Hero
by carameltootsieroll
Summary: Was Luke Castellan really a hero? Or did Fate just set him up to appear as one? Right before Luke jumps into the River Lethe, he recounts his untold adventures with Thalia and Annabeth in the hopes of coming to terms with his guilt-laden past before he tries for rebirth. -cover art by Viria-
1. Prologue

_**A/N: **_**Hullo everyone! It's finally summer for me, and I can WRITE ALL I WANT! Also, I graduated from high school teehee, I'll be a uni girl in a few months! **

**Anyway, here's the prologue of a story I've been wanting to post since FOREVER. I just never got the chance to write over senior year *sigh*. I'm also committing a huge fanfiction author crime by posting a chapter without the other chapters written in advance…oops. However, I assure you all that I have written the entire story board and you have no need to fear that I will get stuck in the middle of writing this story and leave you guys hanging for eternity. **

**Hope you guys enjoy the untold adventures of Luke, Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover! ENJOY!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own PJO! I don't own the cover photo either! Wonderful art by Viria hehehe**

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_Elysium._

Gods, he never thought he'd make it here.

Luke blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the light. Over him, tall, shady willow trees blocked out most of the orange-tainted sky. Birds chirped sweetly overhead, their song echoing throughout the woods.

Luke rolled over to his side, expecting his muscles to protest in pain. But he moved freely, his arms and legs obeying like newly-oiled machines. He let his fingers travel up to his Achilles' spot under his left arm; he was surprised to find that there was no wound where he had supposedly stabbed himself. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, taking in his surroundings.

_Elysium._

Dear gods of Olympus, he had actually made it to Elysium!

After all he'd done...he thought he'd end up in the Field of Punishment. Heck, he had hosted _Kronos_!

_But you were also the one who eventually destroyed Kronos,_ a tiny voice in his head contradicted. _You were the true hero of the prophecy. You deserve to be here._

_A Half-Blood of the eldest gods_,

_Shall reach sixteen against all odds,_

_And see the world in endless sleep._

_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap,_

_A single choice shall end his days,_

_Olympus to preserve or raze._

Luke swallowed hard, his saliva suddenly tasting like rust. How could he, Luke Castellan, host of the evil Titan Kronos, be the "hero" referred to in the prophecy? Luke was the bad guy!

If there was anyone else Luke thought who could actually be worthy of being called the "hero" of the prophecy, it was Percy Jackson. The Son of Poseidon was always the good guy. He returned Zeus' Lightning Bolt to prevent a war between the gods; he went on a dangerous quest across the Sea of Monsters to save Camp Half-Blood and his friends; he held up the weight of the sky (yes, literally); and he journeyed through the Labyrinth to thwart Kronos' plan.

In all those situations, Luke had been the bad guy. He was the one who stole Zeus' Lightning Bolt and framed Percy Jackson. He was the one who poisoned Thalia's tree. He had set the demigods up as pawns to Kronos' plans, and he had watched as one by one, his friends suffered by the hands of the evil Titan. Ethan Nakamura. Charles Beckendorf. Michael Yew. Silena Beauregard.

All those deaths had him to blame.

Luke was suddenly overcome with emotion. He balled his hands into fists and punched the nearest tree. So many people, both demigods and mortals, have died because of him. His choice to host Kronos had more bad consequences than he had initially foreseen. The deaths and destruction he had caused...he was disgusted with himself. How was he still considered a hero? Ending up in Elysium was a joke. He didn't deserve this.

With every self-reproaching thought that crossed his mind, he jabbed at the tree, the rough bark scraping his knuckles raw. He clenched his jaw as he pulled his bloodied right fist up to his face. Apparently, it was still possible to hurt yourself in Elysium. He was about to punch the tree again when he heard a familiar voice call his name. "Luke? Luke...is that you?"

Luke spun around and came face to face with a girl in a white silk dress standing a few meters from him. Luke's heart skipped a beat "Silena!" he exclaimed,

The daughter of Aphrodite ran over to him and tackled him in a hug? "Oh my gods, Luke! I didn't think you'd follow us here so quickly!"

Luke hugged her back. She smelled like freshly-picked roses. He felt his body relax against hers, his heart beat slowing down.

"Holy Hades," Silena muttered, pulling away. "Your hand is bleeding. Are you okay?"

Luke opened his mouth to reply but no words came out.

"What's the matter?" Silena asked him. She took hold of his injured hand.

"I d-didn't expect to end up in Elysium, "Luke stammered. "I mean, I've always dreamt of it, and Annabeth told me just before I died that I'd end up here, but…"

"Luke?" Silena prompted. She tilted her head and looked at him intently. "You look like you want to cry."

Luke drew his hand back. He hated how well Aphrodite's kids could read emotions. "I don't belong here."

Silena shook her head. "Nonesense, Luke. You killed Kronos. You chose to kill him even if it meant sacrificing your own life. That was brave."

Luke remained silent, mulling over Silena's words. Did that final, single act of sacrificing his own life really make him a hero? What about all the bad stuff he had done? Didn't those outweigh his "heroic" deeds?

"Luke, if it's any consolation, I felt undeserving of Elysium when I woke up here too," Silena said. She brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear ad took a deep breath. "I was a spy for Kronos, you knew that. My actions caused the death of so many demigods. My boyfriend –" she paused. "Charles, well, I had to live with the heavy weight of guilt until I died. But even after, here in Elysium, I thought I deserved the Fields of Asphodel, or even the Fields of Punishment. But I later realized that I _did_ do some pretty good things while I was still alive. I just didn't remember them as much compared to all the bad stuff I did. Luke, trust me when I say you did more good deeds than you give credit to yourself."

A soft breeze blew through the woods, rustling the leaves of the willow trees and bringing with it the sweet scent of lavender, gardenia, jasmine, and other flowery scents Luke couldn't even name. "You'll love it here. It's everything you ever expected it to be. You deserve to be here," she told him.

Luke tried to smile but he felt like he had left all his happiness on Earth. Actually, if he were to be frank with himself, he hadn't felt genuine _happiness_ in such a long time.

Why couldn't he bring himself to feel happy about being in Elysium? Wasn't this everyone's dream? "Something's missing," he murmured.

"What?"

"I...I don't know. I mean, I get the whole 'hero' thing now, but I think I want a second chance."

Silena pursed her lips. "You mean like, rebirth?"

"Isles of the Blest."

It was Silena's turn to be at a loss for words. "You want to try for rebirth, _thrice_?"

Luke nodded slowly. That was exactly what he wanted. He wanted to work for it this time, to feel like he truly deserved what he got. He was going to earn Elysium two more times. He was going to find a way to feel deserving of the Isles of the Blest.

Silena nodded slowly, like she was having difficulty coming to terms with Luke's plan. "I support you, Luke. If this is what you really want, then I'm here for you." She sat down on the grass, drawing her silk skirt around her lap. "So when do you plan to jump in the River Lethe?"

Luke bit his lip. Honestly? He wouldn't jump in the River of Forgetfulness if given the choice.

Silena patted the grass beside her, motioning for Luke to sit down. "I'm going to take your silence as a 'no'?"

Luke settled down beside her, taking a deep breath. "I'm not ready to forget everything yet," he admitted. How could he just forget everything and everyone? Thalia, Annabeth, Grover, his adventures with his friends, the Quests he'd been on, all the activities at Camp Half-Blood…He winced. "Isn't there another way to do this?"

Silena shook her head, smiling sadly. "I wish there were another way, but unfortunately, I don't think there is." She ripped a small part off the lower end of her skirt and wrapped it around Luke's bleeding hand. "But there is something people choose to do before the jump in the River. You might find it helpful."

"What is it?"

"They choose to retell the story of their life to someone in Elysium," Silena said. "When you tell your story, it's almost like you get a second chance to experience all you've lived through. You get to relive your memories one more time just before you forget all of them."

Luke cleared his throat. "Um, but if I retell my story to you, won't that be pretty useless? I mean, you know me so well. You've been there with me since the start."

Silena shrugged. "I don't mind hearing it the second time around. I've got more than enough time to waste in Elysium," she said, spreading her arms wide. "Go on, start at the beginning. When you met Thalia, Annabeth and Grover. I never really heard that part in detail."

Luke gulped. He realized that he had never actually opened up about his past to anyone. He suddenly felt it difficult to breathe. Why was he so nervous about confronting his past? "Well…"

Silena smiled warmly. "Okay, I'll help you out. How did you meet Thalia? I know it had something to do with a dragon, right?"

Luke nodded. His palms were sweating all of a sudden. "Yeah, we met outside a dragon cave. I w-was injured - " he paused and looked down at his bandaged hand. It looked a lot like how it did on that fateful night when he had met Thalia. "And she helped me kill that dragon. If it weren't for her, I don't think I would've survived."

Silena nodded. "Go on."

Luke took a deep breath. "Well, she was kind of annoying at first. She always wanted to get her way with things." He chuckled at the memory of their first argument. Thalia had wanted to charge straight at the dragon, but Luke thought that was pretty unwise. He felt his fingers relax, his heart rate slow down, his lungs loosen up.

Silena smiled and nodded again. "Yes, you're getting to the little details. Go on, I want to hear everything."

Luke found himself returning her smile. He took another deep breath, feeling his entire body relax as the oxygen travelled through his veins. Maybe opening up wasn't so bad. Anyway, it would be the last time before he forgot everything.

"Yeah, so if it weren't for Thalia, I wouldn't have lived to tell this tale."

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_**A/N: **_**So how was that for a prologue? Tell me what you think in your reviews! **


	2. Alliance

_**A/N: **_**Here's the second chapter of **_**Hero**_**! As it was mentioned in the prologue, the entire story is a re-telling of the adventures of Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth as runaways. This chapter starts when Luke and Thalia first met. Hope you guys enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own the PJO series aw man**

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As much as Thalia wanted to deny it, she was scared. Her heart was beating wildly, hammering against her chest. Her breaths came in quick, short gasps, making her feel light-headed. Adrenaline coursed through her veins even now as she sat in hiding behind two metal trash bins.

Police car sirens wailed in the distance. Thalia shut her eyes. "Gods, no," she muttered, her fingers clawing at the rain-splattered concrete. "No…they can't find me…can't bring me back."

The sirens seemed to be getting closer. Thalia, seized with panic, jumped up from her hiding place and squinted through the falling rain and the dimming twilight.

_There_, she thought. Out across the street lay thick foliage and shrubbery, perfect for a hiding place. As quickly as her own feet would allow, she raced across the empty road and jumped over the low road-railing. Her heart rate quickened. The forest floor was a _lot_ lower than she expected it to be. She hung suspended in mid-air for a few seconds before her feet met slippery mud and she skidded some ten feet down.

"Gross," she groaned as she rolled to a stop. She was caked in sticky mud and leaves were stuck in her hair.

The police sirens wailed overhead. Thalia held her breath, but they soon passed. She exhaled. "Thank the gods," she murmured. Relief flooded her for the first time that night.

How long had she been on the run? How long have the police been on her tail? She wondered when her mom had finally noticed that she was missing.

Thalia tilted her head skyward, ignoring the occasional rain drops that fell on her face. The tall trees blocked off most of the sky, but she could still see the moon. It was full and bright, up high in the night sky.

Thalia found herself smiling. She was free. _Free, I'm free!_

She crawled to the base of one tree, where the rain was blocked off, and leaned against the trunk. Gods, she was _free_! She didn't have to deal with her mom anymore. No more noisy nights of parties, drunken guests, her mom…

Free…but freedom also meant missing Jason. Oh gods…little Jason. Where could he be now? There was a great possibility that he was dead, but Thalia refused to believe it. He was probably still alive. He had to be alive, somewhere, out there.

Thalia closed her eyes, exhaustion finally settling in her bones. Maybe a good night's sleep would help her move on from the past.

"Baaaaa!"

"Baaaaaaaaa!"

"BAAAAAAAAAA!"

Thalia jumped. "Oh gods," she muttered. Her eyes had flown open at the animal's bleat. "A goat?" she stared at the creature standing two feet from her.

"Baaaaaaaaaaa!"

Thalia pushed herself up and approached the animal cautiously. "Funny goat," she murmured. The animal had thick gray fur and short little horns, just like most other cattle of its specie. Thalia inched closer to the animal, somehow attracted to it. Her heart rate seemed to slow down to a more relaxed pace, adrenaline thinning in her bloodstream. Her fear seemed to ebb away as she neared the goat.

Thalia reached her hand out and the goat trotted forwards, allowing Thalia to pet it. "You're…different," Thalia thought aloud.

_You're different too, Thalia._

Thalia drew back sharply. She glanced at her surroundings, but no one seemed to be standing among the trees. Who had spoken to her?

_Don't you fret now,_ the voice came again, echoing more powerfully in Thalia's mind. It was a female's voice; that much Thalia was sure of.

Thalia looked down at the goat in disbelief. It was glowing now, its fur luminescent silver. Thalia gasped. "Are you…are you talking to me?"

_There's no one else around, Daughter of Zeus. What do you think?_

Thalia gulped and inched closer to the creature once more. "You just called me Daughter of Zeus," she said. Instinctively, Thalia's hand crept towards her wrist where she wore the only present her dad had ever given her: a silver bracelet that doubled as a shield. Did her dad send her this strange goat to guide her?

_You won't need to use that on me, _the goat said rather plainly. _I'm not a monster, Thalia. I was sent here to help you. _

Thalia bit her lip. She wasn't so sure she could trust a magical telepathic goat right away, even if it was sent by her dad. Heck, her dad wasn't even around most of the time, how was she supposed to trust _him_?

Why had Zeus only sent her a guide now? He had never made an appearance, a sign, whatever, for the past two years. Why now? Why only now?

_Follow me, Thalia, _the goat called, turning around and walking ahead of her.

"Where will you take me?" Thalia asked.

The goat didn't reply this time and kept walking ahead.

"Over there! The dogs smell something! Check the bushes!"

Thalia jumped. _Oh no._

The police were on her tail again. Overhead, police car sirens wailed, brakes screeching against asphalt. Dogs barked. Feet crunched on leaves.

Thalia's senses were going on overdrive. She balled her hands into fists to stop them from shaking. The goat kept walking up ahead, not stopping to wait for Thalia. If Thalia didn't hurry, her dad's guide would soon be out of sight. She glanced behind her; the police were getting nearer. It wouldn't be long now before they found her and took her back into her mom's custody. She couldn't allow that. She wasn't going back to her mom.

"Wait!" Thalia called and took off after the goat. "I'm coming with you!" The goat stopped in its tracks and turned to her, meeting Thalia's eyes.

_Wise decision, Daughter of Zeus, _it spoke in Thalia's mind. Almost instantly, a cold, numbing breeze seemed to pass through Thalia. She gasped as the sensation made her fingers and toes grow numb, lightheadedness suddenly kicking in. "What…"she murmured.

She could vaguely hear the police from behind her, the search dogs only a few meters behind. "Over there! The Grace child!" a voice yelled.

Her vision was spinning and Thalia tripped, falling to her knees. Maybe the goat wasn't so trustworthy after all? "Help!" she screamed, but her voice sounded muffled even to her own ears. "What's happening to me?"

Then just as suddenly as it started, everything went black.

Thalia wasn't sure for how long she was out, but when she came to, it was still twilight, some stars already visible in the clear night sky. She sat up, taking in her surroundings.

She was in some kind of old town, Mediterranean-style houses and palm trees lined the cobblestone streets. There were old, rundown, stone buildings and churches, paint chipping off their walls.

_The goat! _Thalia thought. She jumped to her feet and did a 360°, but the magical goat was nowhere to be seen. "No!" she yelled in frustration. She felt tears sting her eyes. She was alone, again. For a second back in L.A., she thought her dad was finally going to help her escape her mom and build a new life. But now, she was all alone again in some old town with no idea how she was going to survive the next few days on her own.

The stupid goat had led her nowhere.

And almost as if to further dramatize the scene, it started raining. Thalia cursed and squinted, shielding her eyes against the rain as she surveyed her surroundings for shelter. She spotted an old, stone-wall church and ran for cover there, two hands above her head.

She reached the shade of the Church and was about to push the two giant wooden doors open when someone hissed at her, "What do you think you're doing?"

Thalia jumped, startled by her company. A boy was standing in the shadows, his eyes glaring daggers at Thalia. "What in Hades do you think you're doing? Do you want to get killed?"

The boy was only a few inches taller than Thalia, probably not much older either, but his face was rugged and dirty. The harsh look in his steel blue eyes gave off the impression that he had been hardened by living on his own. He was wearing a black jacket, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a knife in one hand.

At this point, Thalia should have run away from this shady boy carrying a knife, but curiosity got the better of her. "You said Hades?" she asked.

The boy sneered. "I'm telling you, punk. If you don't wanna get killed, don't go in there."

Thalia looked back to the wooden door and for a split-second, the image of the door flickered and disappeared, revealing what seemed to be the inside of a cave. Thalia blinked and shook her head, and the door came back, "What the…"

The boy seemed to notice her reaction and his expression changed. "You see it too?" he asked. He took a step forward but suddenly faltered, wincing as he clutched his hand. Thalia was surprised to see that his left hand was bleeding.

"Oh my gods, are you okay?" she asked. The boy seemed to be in too much pain to retort this time. Thalia pulled her handkerchief from the pocket of her jeans and took hold of the boy's hand. He glanced up at her in surprised but didn't protest as she wrapped the handkerchief around the gash on his hand. "How did you even hurt yourself?"

"I was running from the – nevermind," the boy muttered. "You won't believe me if I told you."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess."

The boy looked at her expectantly, his mouth drawn into a smug grin. "You can guess, but I don't think you'll get it right."

Thalia shrugged. "A dragon?"

The boy blinked at her, silent for a few seconds. His face went pale. "How did you – what – I don't understand. You saw the cave in that church?"

Thalia nodded. Her heart was racing but she was trying hard not to show her excitement. Could this boy be someone like her?

"Oh my gods, you're a demigod too?" the boy asked. Thalia finished the bandage in a knot and the boy stared at his hand like he had never seen a bandage done so neatly.

Thalia nodded again.

The boy grinned, a total turnaround from his expression when he first set eyes on Thalia. He offered his good hand. "Luke Castellan, Son of Hermes. It's nice to meet you."

Thalia shook his hand. "Thalia, Daughter of Zeus."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!" The dragon's roar shook the ground. Tthe "church" shuddered and the cobblestone streets trembled.

"And that, is the Dragon," Luke murmured. "It was roaming outside of its cave this morning, and it tried to chase me down. I took off but I stumbled over a cliff – "

"A cliff?" Thalia gasped.

"It wasn't that high," Luke said, shrugging. "I held on with my right hand but I slipped and the rocks cut me." He held his injured hand up and smiled at Thalia. "Thank you, by the way."

Thalia found herself smiling, probably the first time she had done so in a long time. "You're welcome. But hold up, are you telling me that this dragon will probably make a reappearance later?"

"Or now. You're a Daughter of Zeus, aren't you? They say that as a child of one of the Big Three, you have a stronger demigod scent compared to the rest of us," Luke told her.

"What does that mean?" Thalia asked, panic starting to creep up on her.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!"

Luke gulped. "Well, that means that _they_ can sense your presence more. I think the dragon senses you _a lot_ now."

"Styx," Thalia muttered. "What do we do?"

Luke handed her a golf club which he pulled from his backpack. "We fight it," he said plainly. Thalia tried not to appear scared; she had fought some monsters in the past, giant scorpions, a hellhound or two, but she had never faced something as gigantic as a _dragon_.

"Have you killed dragons before?" Thalia tried to ask casually as she gripped the meager golf club in her hands.

Luke shook his head. "No," he admitted. "But there's always a time for firsts, right?"

At that moment, the "doors" of the church burst open and splinters and concrete flew through the air. Thalia and Luke jumped backwards as a twenty-foot tall dragon came into view.

"We're lucky this one doesn't breathe fire!" Luke yelled. Thalia tried to keep it together as she stared at the reptilian creature. It had scaly limbs and razor-sharp claws and incisors.

"Yeah, pretty lucky," Thalia whimpered.

The dragon zeroed in on her and lunged, but Thalia jumped out of the way.

"Hit it!" Luke yelled at her. "Club it or something!"

To be honest, Thalia didn't think a golf club could do much damage. The dragon lunged at her again but this time, Thalia's brain went into fight-mode. She dove for the side and hit the ground rolling, jumping back up immediately. She raised her hand up towards the heavens and the sky replied with a low rumble.

"What the heck?" Luke said. He watched in awe as electricity cackled overhead, clouds rolling in the dark sky.

Thalia ignored him and stepped forward towards the dragon. The dragon raised its front legs and roared in her face. Thalia, though trembling inside, held her ground. _Dad, please, work with me! _

She brought her hands out in front of her and channeled all her energy into the lightning strike that she summoned at the creature. "AAAAAGHHHHHHHH!" she yelled. Static electricity simmered in the air around them, making her hair stand up and her skin prickle.

The dragon stumbled back, convulsing as the lightning hit it. There was a disgusting smell of burning leather, and the dragon toppled over on its side. Meanwhile, Thalia was suddenly drained of energy. She stumbled to her knees, breathing hard.

Luke seemed to get the signal. He charged forward, his dagger raised in the air. "Die, stupid monster!" he yelled and stabbed the dragon in-between its eyes. Instantly, the monster dissolved into a pile of grey ash at his feet. Luke sank to his knees, his dagger still gripped in both of his hands.

Thalia struggled to get back on her feet, and trudged over to Luke's side.

"That was cool," Luke said when Thalia came and knelt by his side. "Lightning powers. That is _so _bad-ass."

Thalia grinned. That battle had been terrifying but her spirits were raised. They had survived a fight with a dragon (her first), and she had found a good fighting partner in Luke.

The blond-haired boy seemed to be able to read her thoughts. "You fight well for a girl," he told her.

"Excuse me?"

Luke offered his hand again. "I was kidding. That meant I want to be your fighting buddy, Thalia. Are we good?"

Thalia thought for a second. She had expected to be on the run on her own, but suddenly, a friend to fight all her battles with her sounded like a really wise idea. She needed Luke.

"We're good, Luke Castellan."

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_**A/N: **_**Huhu, I don't know why, but this chapter didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to. I feel like my writing was kind of forced? Oh well, please tell me what you think of this chapter in your review! Next chapter will probably be up in a week! Expect more of the adventures of Thalia and Luke!**

**Also, if you guys are interested, check out **_**Runaway**_**, the first fic I posted on this website! It's about Thalia right before she left her mom's house heehee I originally intended that to be the prologue of this story, so check it out if you want to!**


	3. On the Way Home

_**A/N :**_** So sorry this chapter took so long! I've been dancing everyday and even though I absolutely love it, I'm sometimes already too tired by night time to write. Also, I seem to be in some kind of writer's block slump? It's been pretty difficult to pull myself out of it ho ho ho. Hopefully I'd get my groove back so that I can keep posting stories (I was on a roll last week lol, I miss that feeling).**

**This part of the story starts just before Luke and Thalia bump into Halcyon Green (**_**The Demigod Diaries**_**) **

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own the PJO series awwwww**

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Luke struggled to keep his eyes open as he flipped another burger patty. _Stay awake, Luke, stay awake! _His legs threatened to give way under him for the nth time that day - or night - ugh, he had lost track of time. What time was it, even?

He had been up all night keeping watch on their camp even if he was only supposed to take the first shift. He hadn't wanted to wake Thalia; she was tossing and turning in her sleep, her forehead creased and beaded with sweat. She seemed to be having a rough nightmare and even if Luke had tried to shake her awake, she refused to budge.

He turned away momentarily from the burger patties and stole a glance at Thalia. She was still curled into a tight ball under the tree, sleeping bag blanket pulled up to her chin. Her eyebrows were still scrunched together, her face contorted in what seemed to Luke as either pain or confusion. From where he was, he could hear her murmuring but couldn't decipher what she was saying. Maybe now was the right time to attempt Mission: Wake-up-Thalia Part Dos.

He made his way to the base of the tree and knelt down beside the Daughter of Zeus. "Find her," she was murmuring. "Don't find me...Hades...don't find…"

"Hey, Thalia," Luke said quietly. He placed his hand on her arm and shook her gently. "Wake up, you're having a nightmare."

Thalia groaned and swatted at him. "My father told me to run….find her…"

"Thalia!" Luke said, shaking her again with a little more urgency.

"Run...away…"

Gods, damn it. Luke was _tired _and all he really needed was for Thalia to be awake so that she could take watch and he could finally _sleep._ "THALIA! WAKE-UP!" he yelled in her ear.

Thalia squeaked and sprung up, colliding with Luke in the process. Her shoulder smacked into Luke's forehead and the boy instantly saw stars.

"Ow!" he winced, falling back on his butt.

Thalia looked around, her blue eyes wide with worry. "That dream wasn't...real?"

Luke groaned. Man, he was _still_ seeing stars. "What were you dreaming about anyway? You seemed to be in that fitful state all night."

Thalia blinked, confusion clouding her face. "Wait a minute, it's morning."

"Yeah, the sun is up and it's probably noon, I think," Luke replied, rubbing his forehead ruefully.

Without warning, Thalia drew her fist back and punched Luke in the shoulder. "Are you crazy? You forgot to wake me up for my watch! This is the nth time something like this has happened!"

Now Luke's patience was as thin as thread. He was tired and hungry, not to mention sleep-deprived. "Thalia, I stayed up all night!"

Thalia looked like she wanted to say something, but she closed her mouth and withdrew, her expression softening. "Well that explains why you look like a zombie," she finally said. She tilted her head to the side, dark hair falling to her eyes. "Why did you do that?"

Luke sighed. "It looked like you were having a nightmare. I tried to wake you up but you didn't seem to be able to come to, so I decided to stay up and take your watch."

"Oh." Thalia looked down, the bedding of her sleeping bag suddenly very interesting to her. She picked at the coming off thread, her fingers shaking. "I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. I'm still kinda –" she paused to take a shuddering breath. "I'm still kinda shaken up from that nightmare."

"What was it about?"

Thalia took a deep breath. "My dad was there," she said.

Luke nodded, staying silent. He knew that meant something. Godly parents rarely ever showed up; whether in dreams or in real life. If they did, it always meant something more than a mere "hello".

"He told me to - wait a minute," Thalia paused, sniffing the air around her. For a chilling second, Luke thought that Thalia sensed danger up ahead; a monster? But then she frowned and glared at Luke. "You left the food cooking, unattended, didn't you?"

Ooops. Luke sprung up and ran to the grill but it was already too late. The burger patties had gone up in smoke. Charred flattened circles were what remained of the meat, and they did not look in the very least bit appetizing.

He quickly grabbed the pail of water lying next to the grill - he never forgot his safety rules - and doused everything in water before anything could go wrong. The last thing he wanted right now was a forest fire.

"You really do need sleep," Thalia told him as she came up beside him. She shook her head as Luke turned to face her. "Well, there goes our food. It's a good thing I still have those granola bars from our trip to the convenience store last weekend."

Luke looked at her incredulously. "You still have those?" That certain trip to the convenience store had been rather...eventful, and Luke hadn't expected Thalia to still have the "spoils of war" in her pocket. After all, it was difficult to concentrate on grabbing the right flavors of granola bars when you were being pursued by an angry sales-staff-turned-evil-drakon. Oh well, that was a long story he'd rather not relive.

Thalia fished for a wrapped bar in her pocket and tossed it to Luke. He caught it mid-air. _Blueberry Greek Yogurt, _it read.

"You always get my favorite flavor right," Luke said, grinning as he unwrapped it and took a bite. The sweetness of the bar woke his senses up immediately, filling his belly. He hadn't had a proper meal in days and he was actually looking forward to eating a warm, freshly-cooked burger patty. But surprisingly, the granola bar cheered him up.

Thalia settled down on the grass and Luke followed suit, crossing his legs under him to Indian-sit. "You were saying something about your dream?" he prompted her to continue.

Thalia wrung her hands together. It was pretty obvious that she didn't want to talk about it, but Luke knew it was the only way she could feel better. During their first few days travelling together, they had made a pact to tell each other _everything. _From that point on, there was no more hiding of secrets.

"My Dad told me he was going to send someone to guide me," she said slowly.

"Who?"

Thalia shook her head. "I don't even know if it's a _who_," she told him. Her eyebrows furrowed like she was deep in thought. "Actually, I don't even know what the purpose of this guide is."

Thalia's electric blue eyes were stormy and cloudy, almost like she her mind was somewhere else. Luke fought the strong urge to throw his arms around her and embrace her. She looked like she needed a hug badly right now; but he stopped himself. If there was any girl he knew that had the emotional immunity of steel, it was Thalia. From the night they had met up to the present day, he had not once seen her cry. Sure, things did get difficult; sometimes they didn't have food to eat or a place to spend a rainy night, but she never let him see that she was hurting.

Instead of hugging her, Luke played along with her tough facade. "What do you mean you don't know the purpose of the guide?"

Thalia looked up at him, her blue eyes communicating a sadness that he knew she'd never say out loud. "Luke, do we even know where we're going? We've been running around for almost two years and we have _no idea where we're going_."

The last part of her sentence chilled Luke. He hadn't realized it until she mentioned it, but she was right. He and Thalia had met almost two years ago, outside a Dragon cave in Charleston, LA. They had teamed up to stay alive ever since, and had been running around through different cities, trying to make ends meet so they could stay alive.

But what were they really looking for? A permanent place to call home? Did such a thing even exist for demigods like them? In the first place, were there even more people like them? In all of Luke's years running around, he had only encountered one other demigod and that was Thalia. What if they were the only two people alike in this world? They couldn't be on the run forever. Even if they had survived for two years, they were _barely _surviving. A cold, numbing sensation joined the pang of hunger in Luke's stomach. He knew they couldn't run forever. One day they'd get too tried to run and the monsters would just overwhelm them. They needed a permanent place to call home.

But where was _home_?

Thalia locked eyes with him and an unspoken understanding crossed them: they had to keep running until they found that place.

"Don't you just sometimes wish that we had normal lives, that we were normal people, not demigods?" Thalia thought aloud wistfully. Her blue eyes shone brightly in the noonday sun, a beautiful, sparkling electric blue. Luke almost found it difficult to look her in the eye sometimes; she was strikingly beautiful under all her punk attire.

After a few seconds, he replied with a quiet, "Yeah, I do." He smiled sadly. "But if we were normal, I don't think we would have met."

Thalia bit her lip. "And that's the one thing that makes me thankful I'm a freakazoid daughter of a Greek god pursued by monsters on a daily basis." She laughed, her voice echoing throughout the woods.

And she was right; Luke wouldn't trade a normal life if it meant not ever meeting Thalia. She was like his second half, someone who knew him better than he knew himself. She was his best friend.

Then suddenly, Thalia stopped laughing. Her face went stoic and blank, and she jumped to her feet. "Oh my gods," she murmured, her face blanching.

"What is it?"

She lifted her hand and pointed. "That's it! The sign from my dad!"

Luke jumped up and followed Thalia who had already gone and sprinted up ahead. He squinted against the sun and spotted a...goat? Thalia was already by its side, kneeling down and smiling like the cattle was one of the best things she had ever seen.

But Luke wasn't so sure. How the heck was a goat going to guide them? Unless Zeus intended for them to kill it and cook it for dinner; now that would make it a priceless gift from Thalia's dad. Luke was hungry for real food.

But he noticed the look in Thalia's eyes again, the hope he had missed from her eyes when she had just woken up. It was back in her electric blue eyes and Luke didn't want to lose that hope in her again.

"We have to follow her," Thalia said when Luke approached her and the goat. Thalia was kneeling next to it, her hand tentatively raised as if she wanted to touch it. "She'll help us, Luke!"

Luke tried not to laugh but he nodded instead. "Wha - "

He was interrupted by the goat's bleat. Thalia had just petted it and the goat's fur suddenly stood on edge.

"Um," she began. But the goat bleated again and suddenly took off, leaving two shocked demigods in its wake.

"Oh my gods! Wait! Hold up!" Thalia yelled at it. The goat fled deeper into the woods, disappearing quickly. Soon, it was no more than a speck in their sight. "No!"

Luke held Thalia back when she tried to follow after it. "Hey, you can't just go running after goats like that!"

Thalia shook her head, agitation contorting her face. "No! We can't lose her! Luke, she's going to help us!" She fought against Luke's hold but he was stronger than her.

"We have to pack up camp first," Luke told her gently. Slowly, Thalia stopped fighting. "We'll catch up, don't worry."

"Maybe I shouldn't have pet her," she muttered ruefully. "Now we've probably lost my dad's guide and we'll probably be eaten by monsters in the next twenty-four hours."

"Hey," Luke chided her. "Don't be so harsh on yourself. We'll stalk it from afar next time. We'll find that godly goat and it'll lead us to that safe place your dad told you about in your dream," he said, smiling. He felt like he was reassuring himself more than he was reassuring Thalia. But they both needed the reassurance. They both needed to know that finding a home was possible.

Thalia smiled back up at him. "Come on, Castellan, let's pack up. We're moving."

Luke smiled wistfully. "We're on our way home."

* * *

_**A/N: **_**So what did ya guys think about this chapter? Tell me in your reviews! What do you guys expect to see in their adventures? I'd love to hear your guesses! **

**Expect them to meet Halcyon Green in the next chapter, yes, that guy from **_**The Demigod Diaries**_**! **

**Also, do you guys have any book/TV series suggestions for me? I know I shouldn't be asking for those now since I'm super busy with dance, but I can't help it, I NEED new book and TV series suggestions! **


	4. Halcyon Green

_**A/N: **_** First of all, I'd like to apologize for taking EONS to update this fic! I've been really busy the past few weeks with the dance intensive I joined, but now I'm freeeeee because we just had our recital yesterday. No more excuses for this gal! **

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! This was almost entirely taken from **_**The Demigod Diaries, The Diary of Luke Castellan**_**. Yah, I hope you guys still enjoy this even if you've read that because I tried my best to make this chapter really detailed and fateful to the story!**

**Special shoutout to the people who reviewed (**_**RadCherishIsEve, Can'tResistThisFantabulosity, Gakorogirl, MistressWrandelle, Equinoxes, Paolo Anson Ramon, sifuXANA, and Abnegation Ravenclaw), **_**favorited (**_**A Certain Girl, Mistress Wrandelle, Paolo Anson Ramon, ShadowsOfATridentTattoo, and 2001)**_**, and followed (**_**Alton Blood, Gakorogirl, MistressWrandelle, RadCherishIsEve, ShadowsOfATridentTattoo, and 2001)**_** THANK YOU!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own the PJO series or The Demigod Diaries, nor any of the characters. Boohooooooo**

* * *

Luke's thighs were burning.

Okay, not in the literal sense, but his legs were cramping and he was pretty sure his limbs were going to fall off if they kept walking for another hour. For Hermes' sake, they'd been walking for three straight days! Why, exactly? Because ever since their encounter with that goat back over at their campsite by the James River, Thalia was convinced that they had to keep the animal within a ten-meter radius of their sight. She kept insisting that Zeus had sent it to them to guide them...somewhere. But in the way Luke saw it, Thalia seemed to have no clue either as to where the goat was leading them to.

"How much further?" Luke groaned. He wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead. He was hungry and tired. Was there a McDonald's nearby? A BigMac sounded so good right now.

"Hush!" Thalia scolded him. In the noonday sun, her hair shone shiny jet-black, even if Luke knew she hadn't washed her hair since they left their campsite. Meanwhile, Luke knew he looked _bad_. He kind of felt jealous that Thalia could still manage to look so pretty after three days of trekking across cities.

Thalia walked ahead of him, her excited energy still strong despite the three-day chase. She made her way across the street of the quiet neighborhood that they now found themselves in. Luke guessed that they were somewhere in Richmond, Virginia, judging from the serene suburban brick houses and the Civil War monuments.

Luke bit his lower lip as he gazed at the houses, imagining how great a mug of tea and a plate of biscuits would feel in his empty stomach. How would life be for him right now if he hadn't run away?

Easy, maybe. He wouldn't have to worry if he'd be able to eat dinner or sleep in a comfortable bed for the night. But then again, would he be able to stand living with his mother?

He shook his head, blocking out the images of his deranged mother and the empty home he had left behind. He glanced back up at Thalia, who was still walking ahead of him, set on finding the goat.

_Concentrate, Luke._

Then suddenly, "Hide!" Luke was pulled to the ground, behind a bush. Thalia's grip on his sleeve was tight, her knuckles white around the edges. Luke tried to steal a peek from behind the bush. They were in some kind of rotunda, brick mansions lining the streets. There was a bronze civil war monument of a soldier riding horseback, and at its base was the goat they had been following for the past three days.

"It's just a goat. Why-"

"It's special," Thalia hissed, her voice soft like she didn't want to scare the animal away this time. "One of my dad's sacred animals. Her name is Amaltheia."

Luke raised an eyebrow. Thalia had never mentioned the goat's name before.

"So you've seen this goat before?" Luke asked.

Thalia nodded slowly, a shadow crossing over her face. "In Los Angeles, the night I ran away. Amaltheia led me out of the city. And later, that night you and I met...she led me to you."

Luke felt like his heart had just leapt into his throat. Amaltheia had _led_ Thalia to him? For the longest time, he had always thought that their meeting had been an accident, a mere consequence of fate. Thalia had never mentioned that she was led to Charleston by a magical goat.

Maybe this goat was more important than he thought.

Thalia bit her lip, her eyes on him. She drew a shaky breath. "Luke, when Amaltheia appears, something important is about to happen...something _dangerous_. She's like a warning from Zeus, or a guide."

"To what?"

"I don't know...but look." Thalia raised her hand and pointed up ahead of her to the statue. "She's not disappearing this time. We must be close to wherever she's leading us."

Sure enough, the goat was grazing at the grass at the base of the statue, oblivious to the fact that its stalkers were only a few feet away from it.

Thalia took hold of Luke's wrist, her fingers cold against his skin. "Come on. Let's try to talk to it."

"First we hide from the goat," Luke muttered. "Now you want to talk to the goat?"

Thalia ignored him and trudged ahead, dragging Luke behind her. Too tired to protest (and besides, Luke knew it was _impossible_ to go against Thalia's wishes. That girl always got her way), he followed her lead.

As they neared the goat, Luke noticed that there _was _something distinct about the goat. Its fur seemed to glow golden in the noonday sun, thin tendrils of light seemed to escape from it like the goat was made from light itself. Amaltheia almost looked ethereal.

Luke glanced at his surroundings, but no one else except for him and Thalia seemed to notice the glowing goat. Of course, that was probably an effect of whatever magical force always prevented mortals from seeing monsters and gods. To them, Amaltheia was probably just a stray cat and not a supernatural glowing barnyard animal.

Thalia knelt down next to the goat as soon as they reached the monument. "Amaltheia?" she said gently.

Meanwhile, Luke struggled with his dyslexia as he squinted at the bronze plaque of the statue. After a few seconds, the letters cleared themselves up and a name became readable. _Robert E. Lee, _the plaque of the statue read. A cold feeling started to spread in his stomach. Luke wasn't exactly the best history student but he was sure he vaguely remembered _Lee _as a general that lost in the war. He got a bad feeling in his gut, like the statue of a losing general was somewhat, a bad omen. But he glanced back at Thalia and saw how eager she looked, excitement lighting up her face in a way he hadn't ever seen on her before. Fine, if Thalia wanted to communicate with Amaltheia, he was going to support her. Even if he had a really bad feeling that Amaltheia was going to bring nothing but trouble.

The goat turned towards Thalia and nuzzled her.

Luke tilted his head to the side. As far as he was concerned, demigods could read Ancient Greek. He squinted at the goat's udders; Ancient Greek symbols were written on them and to Luke, they read something like: _Nectar, Milk, Pepsi, Press here for Ice, _and _Diet Mountain Dew. _He shook his head and blinked. Okay, he was pretty sure a goat's udders were not supposed to dispense soda. Maybe the heat was just getting to him.

"Amaltheia, what do you want me to do? Did my dad send you?"

The goat turned to Luke with such sudden hostility in its grey eyes that Luke fumbled for a second, stepping back and almost falling backwards. He resisted the urge to draw his weapon, a golf club (it was a long story; his sword dematerialized in acid during a fight with a dragon) and swipe a swing at the goat.

He cleared his throat and tried to regain his bearings ."Um, Thalia, you sure this goat is from your dad?"

"She's immortal," Thalia said. "When Zeus was a baby, his mom Rhea hid him in a cave - "

"Because Kronos wanted to eat him?" Luke interrupted. He was fully aware of the story, how the Titan king had devoured all his children.

Thalia nodded grimly. "So this goat, Amaltheia, looked after baby Zeus in his cradle. She nursed him."

Luke tried to wrap his mind around the idea of a helpless infant boy being cared for by a glowing, golden barnyard animal. "On Mountain Dew?"

Thalia frowned. "What?"

"Read the udders," Luke said. "The goat has five flavors plus an ice dispenser."

"Blaaaaahh," Amaltheia bleated.

Thalia patted its head and glared at Luke. "It's okay. He didn't mean to insult you. Why have you led us here, Amaltheia? Where do you want me to go?"

The goat bleated and walked towards the monument of Robert Lee. She butted her head against it and suddenly, the statue came to life.

There was the sound of creaking metal and Luke and Thalia looked up in time to see General Lee move his right arm and pointed straight ahead across the street.

Luke glanced nervously back at Thalia. They had fought quite a number of moving statues, _automatons _to be precise. For a second back there, Luke was scared that General Lee would go on full commando and shred them to pieces with the sword that hung by his side. but thankfully, this automaton seemed to be on their side...for now. "What's that about? " he asked her, frying to keep his voice from wavering.

On the opposite side of the street lay a vine-covered red brick mansion. The windows of the house were boarded and dark. If there was someone living inside, Luke could hardly feel any human presence thanks to the dark and gloomy atmosphere the house has about it. The paint of the front porch was peeling and moss covered the door and the leaves of the oak trees surrounding it. Luke gulped. "The goat wants us to go _there_?" He hoped he didn't sound as scared as he felt.

"Blaaah." Amaltheia bleated and dropped her head as if nodding in reply to Luke.

"Thank you, Amaltheia. I-I trust you," Thalia stammered.

The bad feeling in Luke's gut intensified, like he had had just swallowed a handful of squirming earthworms. Thalia had sounded pretty unconfident in saying that she trusted the mysterious goat, and Luke was sure that the glowing fur of Amaltheia rang a bell in his head. There was a story about her, something about her glowing fur, but he couldn't quite remember all the details.

What if this goat was leading them to their deaths? How sure was Thalia that Amaltheia was sent to lead her to a good place? What if Amaltheia had meant to lead her to the _dragon's cave _and not to Luke on that fateful night she ran away? How sure were they of Amaltheia's motives?

Then suddenly, lightning flickered around the goat and mist engulfed it from its hooves up to its horns. The mist thickened to a fluffy cloud but when Luke blinked, the cloud dissolved into thin air, taking Amaltheia with it.

Aww man, Luke had actually wanted to get an ice cold drink from one of the goat's udders.

He shook his head and turned back to face the creepy house. "You sure about this?"

Thalia grinned up at him,hiding her obvious fear in a charming smile. "Amaltheia leads me to good things. The last time she appeared, she led me to you."

Of course, her winning smile and charming blue eyes could gdt Luke convinced to do anything. Her sweet words were just the cherry on top. But he still couldn't bite back the feeling of doubt that made his veins feel like ice was running through them instead of blood.

He took a deep breath, trying to appear brave for the both of them. "Okay. Creepy mansion, here we come."

* * *

Okay, Luke was scared as hell. As soon as they walked in the front doors of the mansion (which Luke had to unlock using his special skills as a child of Hermes), there was a resounding clap and the two of them found themselves locked in. The doors had slammed shut, much to their dismay.

Luke tried to stifle a whimper, squeezing his fists tight to control himself. Thalia, however, wasn't as composed. She immediately ran towards the nearest window, throwing back the heavy curtains to check if there was a way out. The fabric seemed to have a life of its own, and it started to coil itself thickly around Thalia's arm.

"Luke!" she screamed.

Luke stared as the curtains morphed into a sticky, slimy, monster. It snaked its way around Thalia's arm, engulfing her in thick, black tongues of oil. Luke fought back a scream himself and raised his only available weapon - his meager golf club - and charged at the curtains with all the rage he could muster.

As soon as his club hit the gooey substance, it returned to its original curtain-like state long enough for Luke to tug Thalia out of its grip. He dragged her away before the evil fabric could take hold of her again. After a few seconds, the ooze settled down completely and left the both of them alone.

Luke held Thalia close to his chest; she was shivering badly. Her spear lay a few feet away from them, tendrils of grey smoke curling from its iron body.

When Thalia raised her arms up, Luke saw how blistered they were from her encounter with the curtain-turned-evil-sludge-monster. Her face was deathly pale, her lips turning almost blue.

"Hold on Thalia!" Luke told her, rummaging through his backpack for some nectar. He drizzled what little of the godly drink he had left in his jug, and they both watched as her skin patched itself up. "You're going to be fine. Just rest."

"We - we can't…" her voice wavered as she stared at the curtains that had just attacked her. She stood up shakily, relying heavily on Luke for support. "If all the windows are like that, and the door is locked - "

Thalia had always been brave. Luke had never actually seen her falter like this before in the three years he had known her. He desperately wanted to reassure her that they'd make it out alive, that everything would be okay, but he wasn't so sure of how to say it. "We'll find another way out," he managed.

Luke squinted into the dark, sizing up their options. They were in a large hall with a high ceiling that reminded Luke of some old-fashioned ball room. A chandelier of glittering Celestial bronze swayed overhead, tinting the entire room in yellow. There were hallways on either side of the room, one leading to the left and one leading to the right. There was a grand staircase at the far end of the room, where a few decades back, the rich owner of the mansion probably walked down. The room may have been impressive once upon a dream, but at present, the place reeked of negligence. The tiles of the floor were cracked, the curtains that Thalia had tried to draw back were dusty and moth-eaten; the carpets were stained with gods-knew-what; and the place stank like Tartarus (though Luke had never been to Tartarus, he was pretty sure this place was close to smelling as bad as hell). And as a cherry on top, the floor at the base of the stairs was littered with...bones. Luke swallowed back nausea as he tried to decipher what kind of bones they were. Human bones? Animal bones? Actually, you know what? He did not want to find out.

Then suddenly, his eyes caught site of two red, glowing orbs on the floor. He started towards it but they jumped and a low growl rolled through the room. Luke gulped. That did _not_ sound good.

"Um, Luke…" Thalia squeaked. She was pointing down the opposite hallway, where there were more glowing red orbs floating in the darkness. A chilling _clack, clack, clack _echoed down both hallways, like someone was smacking two hollow human skulls together.

"The stairs are looking pretty good," Luke said weakly.

"Yes, this way."

The both of them jumped and stared at each other. The voice that replied to Luke had come out of nowhere.

"Who are you?" Luke yelled.

"Hurry," the voice responded, but it sounded sad and not at all in a hurry.

"Hurry!"

"Hurry."

"HURRY!"

Luke almost tripped over his feet in confusion; the voice seemed to be coming from all sides. He stared down at the _thing_ with glowing red eyes; the voice had seemed to come from the creature too.

"Hurry…"

Okay, Luke was definitely scared as hell! Every nerve in his body screamed at him, _RUN! _

He grabbed Thalia's wrist and started for the stairs.

"Luke - "

"Come on!"

"If it's another trap - "

"No choice!"

They took the stairs two steps at a time, neither one of them daring to look back. Luke could _sense_ the creatures creeping closer, snarling and sneering in the shadows. Luke had no idea what they were, and he kind of did not want to find out either.

When they reached the landing of the stairs, they turned towards the nearest hallway straight ahead. Piles of bones still littered the floor, and Luke barely missed a human skull, the toe of his shoe kicking one as he lept over it.

He could vaguely make out the voice of the man that they heard downstairs. "This way!" he urged them. "Last door on the left! Hurry!"

His words actually sounded comforting to them; directions for the lost. The man almost sounded sad, like he wanted Luke and Thalia to save him from this haunted mansion. But what chilled Luke was the fact that the creatures behind them seemed to echo whatever the man said. "Left! Hurry!"

Were the creatures on this man's side? Or were they simply mimicking his voice? Was the man really in trouble?

"We have to help him," Thalia said.

"Yeah."

They continued running down the corridor, the hallway seeming even more ancient the further down they went. The wallpaper was curling at the edges, peeling off like it had been stuck there for centuries. The carpets were shredded and bones were scattered everywhere.

They finally reached the end of the corridor and they threw themselves in the room, falling face-first into the moth-eaten carpet.

The door slammed shut.

Luke felt his blood run cold. He could hear the creatures growling outside, their claws scraping at the walls.

Then suddenly, "Hello." It was the man's voice. He sounded like he was in the same room as them, but when Luke glanced around, he spotted no one. "I'm very sorry."

His voice seemed to echo off the walls. Luke couldn't tell from which direction his voice was coming from. He turned around frantically, trying to find the man.

Thalia squeezed his hand, her fingers icy cold. "Luke," she murmured.

Luke glanced up to find the man staring down at them. The first thing that struck him was his outfit. No, seriously. Snakeskin boots and a green-and-brown suit; he looked like a snake-turned-human or something. He was stick thin but tall, his face gnaut like he wasn't in good health. His jet-black hair looked slick and slimy. His green eyes told a tale of unnerving sadness, forcing Luke to glance away.

Instead, his eyes started to roam around the room that he and Thalia had found themselves in. It was a small room that surprisingly seemed to be in pretty good shape compared to the rest of the mansion. There was a desk and a computer, a bed, and a book case. Luke also spotted a small kitchenette and a dining table. There were two doorways on the right side of the apartment, one leading to the bathroom and another leading to a closet.

"Um, Luke…" Thalia prompted.

Luke glanced towards the left and his heart nearly skipped a beat. The opposite end of the room was covered in vertical bars like a prison cell. But what really scared him was the creature behind those bars, a monster with the weirdest anatomy he had ever seen. It had the body of a lion, its fur rusty-red. Its paws were the hooves of a horse, and it's long tail looked like a bullwhip. The most disturbing part was the monster's head, which seemed to be a very impossible and gross cross between a horse and a wolf.

It snarled at them and Luke jumped back instinctively. It didn't have razor-sharp incisors as Luke expected it to have, but its teeth were plates of bone, which scared Luke even more. _Clack, clack, clack_, its teeth sounded. Well, now he knew what was making that sound downstairs. The knowledge, however, did not calm him down.

The monster glared at Luke, its red eyes making him feel like a cornered animal. He felt like he was the one behind those bars, a prisoner of the vicious creature.

Thalia helped Luke to his feet, gripping his hands tight. Was she trying to reassure him? Or was she relying on him to be brave for the both of them?

"Who are you?" Luke demanded. "What's that thing in the cage?"

The old man smiled sourly, his chapped lips turning up at the corners. He looked so sad, so _desolate_, that for a second, Luke wanted to run up to him and hug him. The old man opened his mouth, but no sound came from him.

Luke felt sick to his stomach as he realized what was happening. He didn't need to spin around to know that it was the monster in the cage that was speaking for the man. In the voice of the old man, the monster rattled, "I am Halcyon Green. I'm terribly sorry, but _you _are in the cage. You've been lured here to die."

* * *

_**A/N: **_** So what did you guys think of this chapter? Ohmygods, what will happen to Luke and Thalia!? (Well, if you've read The Demigod Diaries, you'd know. Pshawwww, don't spoil the story for the other readers! Haha) Please tell me what you think of this chapter in your reviews! I absolutely love hearing from you!**

**Also, thank you for all your book/TV series suggestions! Greatly appreciate them!**


	5. Leucrota

_**A/N: **_**Hi everyone! I've been trying my best to update more often, so here is the fifth chapter of **_**Hero**_**! Thank you again to everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed! I love you guyssss. You guys keep me going hart hart**

_**Disclaimer: **_**Still don't own the PJO series or the Demigod Diaries or any of the characters, for that matter. Huhu I need a hug.**

* * *

"You've been lured here to die."

The words the man had uttered rang in Thalia's ears, making her blood run cold for what felt like the nth time that day. Hades, she had just ran halfway across a state in three days, almost gotten incinerated by an acid curtain-come-to-life, and been chased through a creepy, dilapidated mansion by ferocious creatures with red glowing orbs for eyes! Now she had to deal with some psychotic old man in a green snakeskin suit who had just announced their imminent deaths. Thalia wanted to explode with rage; she just didn't have the time for this. Had Amaltheia really led them here, to meet all these problems?

Luke held his golf club out in front of us, taunting the old man with a few swings. "Y-you'd better explain," he said, his voice shaking. A bead of sweat ran down his temple. Thalia knew he was trying to be brave, not to cower in front of her, but she knew just how scared he was. He was probably just as scared as him, and hell, was she _terrified_. "Why - how - what…?"

_CLACK!_ From behind us, the monster in the cage snapped its jaws at the iron bars, the harsh metallic sound echoing throughout the room. "I understand your confusion," the monster continued in the old man's voice. It sounded sad and lonely, almost drawing sympathy from Thalia. But the more she stared at the horrid creature, the more repulsion she felt towards it. Its voice did not, in any way, match the vicious look in its glowing, red eyes. "The creature you see here is a leucrota. It has a talent for imitating human voices. That is how it lures its prey."

Luke stared at the monster, then back at the man. "But...the voice is yours? I mean, the dude in the snakeskin suit - I'm hearing what _he _wants to say?"

"That is correct." The leucrota sighed heavily. "I am, as you say, the dude in the snakeskin suit. Such is my curse. My name is Halcyon Green, son of Apollo."

_Son of Apollo_. Thalia's knees suddenly felt like jelly. "You're a _demigod_?" she blurted. "But you're so - "

"Old?" the leucrota suggested. Halcyon lifted his hands up to his eyes, turning them over. "Yes, I am."

Thalia's heart rate quickened. She knew how rare it was for a demigod to reach such a ripe age. With the fast-paced and monster-filled lives most demigods led, she didn't expect to see someone like her reach the age of Halcyon. This dude seemed to be at least _sixty_.

A small spark of hope lit up in her chest, amidst the surprise. Maybe, just maybe, she could live to reach that age, too.

"How long have you been here?" Luke asked.

The old man shrugged while the monster spoke. "I have lost count. Decades? Because my father is the god of oracles, I was born with the curse of seeing the future. Apollo warned me to keep quiet. He told me I should never share what I saw because it would anger the gods. But many years ago...I simply had to speak. I met a young girl who was destined to die in an accident. I saved her life by telling her the future."

Thalia bit her lip, uneasiness stirring in her gut like a bad burrito.

"I don't get it…" Luke said. "You did something good. Why would that anger the gods?"

"They don't like mortals meddling with fate," the leucrota explained. "My father cursed me. He forced me to wear these clothes, the skin of Python, who once guarded the Oracle of Delphi, as a reminder that I was _not _an oracle. He took away my voice and locked me in this mansion, my boyhood home. Then the gods set the leucrotae to guard me. Normally, leucrotae only mimic human speech, but these are linked to my thoughts. They speak for me. They keep me alive as bait, to lure other demigods. It was Apollo's way of reminding me, forever, that my voice would only lead others to their doom."

Thalia suddenly felt like crying, her fists balling at her sides and her throat constricting. The gods were horrible sometimes. She couldn't believe what Apollo had done to his own son. Halcyon didn't deserve such a punishment as harsh as being locked up in his own house with monsters as his only company! For gods' sake, he had tried to _save _a life! Immediately, Thalia felt a sense of responsibility for the old man. She wanted to help him, to fight with him.

"You should fight back," Luke told Halcyon. "You didn't deserve this. Break out. Kill the monsters. We'll help you."

"He's right," Thalia agreed. "That's Luke, by the way. I'm Thalia. We've fought plenty of monsters. There has to be something we can do, Halcyon."

"Call me Hal," the leucrota said, but the old man shook his head slowly, his eyes downcast. "But you don't understand. You're not the first to come here. I'm afraid all the demigods feel there's hope when they first arrive. Sometimes I try to help them. It never works. The windows are guarded by deadly drapes - "

"I noticed," Thalia muttered under her breath, glaring daggers at the dark curtains that lined the windows of Hal's room.

" - and the door is heavily enchanted. It will let you in, but not out."

"We'll see about that," Luke said. With a newfound sense of urgency, he went towards the doors and pressed his hand against the lock. He shut his eyes, his face contorting in concentration as he tried to use his powers. We waited in silent anticipation for a few more seconds before he let go, his face falling. It hadn't worked. The door remained locked.

"I told you," the leucrota told him. "None of us can leave. Fighting the monsters is hopeless. They can't be hurt by any metal known to man or god."

Halcyon brushed his jacket aside, revealing a Celestial bronze dagger hanging on his belt. He approached the monster's cell, dagger raised. The leucrota snarled at him, lashing its oddly-shaped teeth at him. Then Hal stabbed the knife at the monster through the bars, hitting it right on its scaly forehead. Thalia braced herself, waiting for the monster to disintegrate into ash, but the blade just deflected of its head, leaving no obvious damage.

"You see?" the monster spoke for Hal.

"So you just give up?" Thalia asked, a little anger creeping into her voice. She couldn't believe Hal's attitude. Here he was, content in living with the guilt of luring demigods into his home but not being able to help them escape. "You help the monsters lure us in and wait for them to kill us?"

Hal sheathed his dagger and strapped it to his belt again. "I'm so sorry, my dear, but I have little choice. I'm trapped here, too. If I don't cooperate, the monsters let me starve. The monsters could have killed you the moment you entered the house, but they use me to lure you upstairs. They allow me your company for a while. It eases my loneliness. And then...well, the monsters like to eat at sundown. Today, that will be at 7:03." He pointed to the digital clock lying on his desk. It read 10:34 AM. "After you are gone, I -I subsist on whatever rations you carried."

His eyes roamed hungrily to Luke's backpack, half-slung on his shoulder.

This was sick. He was sick. Thalia couldn't stand it.

"You're as bad as the monsters," Luke said in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

Halcyon winced, but Thalia hardly felt anymore remorse for the old man. What kind of messed up demigod was he? Why had desperation changed him and made him so bitter? Why was he so desperate now to go against his own kind?

Who had done this to him? The gods, or he himself?

"You're right to hate me," the leucrota said. "But I can't save you. At sunset, those bars will rise. The monsters will drag you away and kill you. There is no escape."

Inside the monster's cell, a square panel on the back wall ground opened, revealing two more leucrotae. All three monsters stared at them hungrily, red eyes glowing brightly in the dim light of the room. Thalia didn't see exactly how the leucrotae could eat properly with such weird horseshoe-shaped teeth, but as if in reply to her thoughts, one monster picked up an old piece of a Celestial bronze breastplate and chewed on it like it was as thin as lettuce.

"As you see," one leucrota said in Hal's voice, "the monsters are remarkably strong."

Thalia instinctively reached for Luke's arm, squeezing him hard.

"Send them away," she found herself pleading. "Hal, can you make them leave?" Her entire body was shaking with fear. She couldn't die _here_. After all she and Luke have done together, after all the monsters they've fought and the distance they've covered just to stay alive, she couldn't die _here_. And besides, Amaltheia had led them here, that meant that they had to do something more than get eaten by the stupid leucrotae.

Hal frowned, shaking his head and shrugging. Thalia resisted the urge to kick the back of his head. "If I do that, we won't be able to talk," one monster said.

Another leucrota said in the same voice," Besides, any escape strategy you can think of, someone else has already tried.

The third monster added, "There is no point in private talks."

Thalia paced, her feet restless. "Do they know what we're saying? I mean, do they just speak, or do they understand the words?"

The first leucrota made a high-pitched noise that sounded a lot like a baby's whine. Then to Thalia's surprise it said, "Do they understand the words?"

Thalia jumped back. It had just copied her, mimicking her voice perfectly. She glanced at Luke, who had gone quite green in the face.

The second leucrota spoke for Hal: "The creatures are intelligent, the way dogs are intelligent. They comprehend emotions and a few simple phrases. They can lure their prey by crying things like, 'Help!' But I'm not sure how much human speech they really understand." Hal shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You can't fool them."

"Send them away," Luke ordered, his voice stern as he stared Hal down. "You have a computer. Type what you want to say. If we're going to die at sunset, I don't want those things staring at me all day."

Hal hesitated for a second, his eyes flitting between them and the monsters. Then finally, he turned towards the leucrotae, staring at them in silence. The leucrotae snarled, crawling back out the square panel they had walked in earlier.

Then Hal turned back, spreading his hands out in front of him but Thalia couldn't quite tell what he was communicating.

"Luke," she began. "Do you have a plan?" She glanced nervously at the digital clock on Hal's table.

_10:50, _it now read. They still had a lot of time left, but Thalia knew how quick time could pass. They were in a marathon against time with their lives on the line.

"Not yet," Luke replied. "But we'd better come up with one by sunset."

* * *

_**A/N: **_**Oooh a cliffhanger! Tell me what you guys think in your reviews! Also, what do you guys think of me doing another multi-chapter fic on the PJO series? A little plot bunny has been running around in my brain…An AU High School (for the Arts?) fanfic with the Seven demigods? Does that sound exciting? Yes? No? Tell me in your reviews! Hopefully gonna post the next chapter in a few days!**

**Also, I'm midway through reading **_**Fangirl **_**by **_**Rainbow Rowell **_**and I swear to the gods, I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK THAT I CAN RELATE TO SO MUCH! That book is seriously the biography of all our lives, as fanfiction authors/fangirls/fanboys/crazy, not-human people. If you guys haven't read it, I suggest you do, RIGHT NOW. I swear, Rowell **_**knows **_**her fandom/fanfiction vocabulary slang. And I just have to fangirl about Fangirl, seriously. So please, if you have read it/plan to read it, PM ME SO WE CAN FANGIRL.**


	6. Sacrifice and Betrayal

_**Disclaimer: **_**Still don't own the PJO series or The Demigod Diaries mehh**

* * *

Thalia had never been so restless her entire life. She was seated on Hal's bed, her feet swinging a few inches off the floor. Luke was pacing the room, his face down and his expression unreadable. He had his arms crossed behind him and occasionally, he would stop and stare blankly at the walls of the room like he was deep in thought creating a master escape plan.

But Thalia _couldn't_ think. She had tried to help Luke come up with an escape plan, but she was empty. Everytime she shut her eyes, the leucrota in all its ugly, scaly, monstrosities would come into her mind. And every time she tried to shut the horrible image out, she would hear Hal's voice, taunting her that they would never make it out of here alive.

It wasn't like Thalia to give up, but at the moment, giving up seemed like the only logical thing to do.

Luke groaned in frustration, sinking down to the carpeted floors.

Thalia opened her mouth to say something comforting, but no words came out. _This is it, _she thought hopelessly. _This is it and we're never going to make it out of here alive and we're gonna die, oh my gods, we're going to die here. _

A scary thought gnawed at Thalia's empty stomach. _What if Amaltheia had led them here? What if Zeus had led them here to die? _Thalia took a shuddering breath and bit her lip. She couldn't afford to think negatively. Her own father wouldn't abandon her like that, right? Even if he _had_ left her family to fend for themselves…

But it wasn't like Hal was the one to blame in this situation. If there was anyone who deserved to be devoured by those leucrotae, it was Apollo. How he had punished Hal wasn't fair. As much as Thalia wanted to scream at poor, old Hal for blindly accepting his fate, it wasn't like he could do much about it either. Or couldn't he?

Just then, Hal made a reappearance from the bathroom door. Luke got back on his feet and faced the old man with a stony glare. Hal, meanwhile, just lifted his hand and motioned us to follow him as he walked towards the bookshelves. Thalia glanced at Luke, who shrugged. Well, they had a couple more hours 'til Judgement Day, might as well see what Hal had in his tiny abode.

Thalia ran her fingers along the spines of the books that lined Hal's bookshelves. There were titles on different genres; from historical books to thriller and mystery novels.

Hal was typing something on his computer. Thalia and Luke both inched closer to peer over his shoulder. _You're welcome to read anything. Just please not my diary. It's personal. _He patted a worn-out green leather notebook that was lying next to the keyboard.

Luke scratched his head and glanced from the notebook to the shelves skeptically. "No problem," he said.

_Okay, _I thought. _It isn't as if we can find anything useful to help us kill the leucrotae from those books or your diary. _

Hal opened up a new window of the Internet browser on his computer, probably thinking that we could browse the Web to come up with an escape plan. Thalia doubted any search results would pop up if she Googled, "How to kill a dozen leucrotae with no godly weapons available?"

Thalia was starting to lose hope as the seconds ticked by. And she didn't even have much hope of getting out alive, to begin with.

Hal continued his house tour and brought them to his bathroom. Thalia spotted Hal's snakeskin garments, dripping wet from where they hung on a rod above his bathtub. Hal opened his medicine cabinet for us to see what was inside; "looted" goods from demigods who had fallen prey to the leucrotae's trap. There were rolls of toilet paper, bottles of cough syrup and other pills, a couple of toothbrushes still unused, five small first-aid pouches, and a whole row of ambrosia and nectar. Thalia swallowed hard, her fingers suddenly feeling ice-cold. She knew where all these supplies came from; from the fallen demigods who had failed to kill the leucrotae. And Hal had rummaged through their remains like a vulture, feeding on whatever was left behind for him.

This was wrong. Oh gods, this was _so _wrong.

"I don't understand!" she exclaimed, slamming a drawer shut. Her hand stung from the impact. "Why did Amaltheia bring me here? Did the other demigods come here because of the goat?"

Hal turned to her, the corners of his dark, chapped lips turning down in a frown. He hurried back to his computer, calling us to follow him. _What goat? _he typed.

Thalia glanced at Luke, who nodded grimly and began to relate their encounter with the golden goat. He recounted how Amaltheia had led them out of Richmond and to Hal's mansion.

The old man looked incredulous. _I've heard of Amaltheia, but don't know why she would bring you here. The other demigods were attracted to the mansion because of the treasure. I assumed you were, too. _

"Treasure?" Thalia asked.

Hal walked over to his closet. He threw open its doors only to reveal more looted goods from not-so-lucky demigods - kid-sized coats, torches, dented pieces of armor, and a couple of Celestial bronze weapons that looked like they had seen better battles.

Hal stepped in and kicked a few crate boxes out of his path and bent down to the floor. He patted a metal floor safe and grinned up at them. _Ta-da!_

"Can you open it?" Luke asked him.

Hal shook his head.

"Do you know what's inside?" Thalia asked.

Hal shook his head again.

"It's trapped," Luke guessed.

Hal nodded this time, then drew his finger across his neck, mimicking a gruesome scene.

Luke came next to him and knelt, holding his hands out to the lock. He shut his eyes, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration as he tried to chanel Hermes' skill with locks.

After a few suspenseful seconds, he blinked and grimaced. "This thing is bad news," he murmured. "Whatever's inside must be important." He backed away, clearly unsuccessful in his attempt to unlock the safe.

Thalia suddenly felt a rush of excitement. The unbreakable lock, the safe, the mansion, Amaltheia… She jumped towards Luke and knelt next to him, trying to keep her voice calm. "Luke, this is why we're here! Zeus wanted me to find this."

Luke fixed her with a puzzled stare but Thalia tried to smile at him. They've been friends for quite some time now, and she knew, Luke _couldn't _resist a favor from her.

Finally, he sighed, resigned. "You're going to ask me to open it, aren't you?"

"Can you?"

Luke chewed his bottom lip, avoiding Thalia's eyes. His cheeks coloured a bit.

"People have tried to open this before," he said sternly. "There's a curse on the handle. I'm guessing whoever touches it gets burned to a pile of ashes."

As if to ask for confirmation, he glanced up at Hal, whose face had blanched.

But Thalia didn't want to give up that easily. She _knew _Amaltheia had led her here for a reason, and she was positive that reason didn't involve her own death. Amaltheia had good intentions, and so did her father. "Can you bypass the curse?" she asked hopefully.

Luke looked thoughtful. "I think so," he said. "But it's the second trap I'm worried about."

"The second trap?"

"Nobody's managed to trigger the combination," he explained. "I know that because there's a poison canister ready to break as soon as you hit the third number. It's never been activated."

Hal's eyes were wide open in curiousity. Thalia guessed no demigod had ever gotten this deep in information about the treasure. This must've all been new to Hal as well.

"I can try to disable it," Luke said slowly. "But if I mess up, this whole apartment is going to fill with gas. We'll die."

Thalia swallowed hard, her skin crawling with goosebumps. It was a risk. They had a fity-fifty chance of dying if they pushed on with this plan. But she knew Luke's abilities, and she had seen him work. "I trust you. Just...don't mess up."

Luke turned to Hal. "You could maybe hide in the bathtub. Put some wet towels over your face. It might protect you."

Hal shifted on his feet. He looked like he wanted to help us, but Thalia could sense the fear in him, too.

Luke reached out to the combination lock and closed his eyes again. Thalia watched as his fingers tightened around the lock and his eyebrows furrowed. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead and his breathing became deep and labored. The finally, something in the safe _popped_ and _clicked_, and Luke carefully pried open the door of the safe. His fingers closed around a small, glowing, green vial, and he drew it out slowly.

The tension in the room finally relaxed. Hal exhaled. Thalia couldn't help it - she reached over and kissed him on the cheek. "You are _so _good," she told him.

She thought she caught Luke grinning to himself like an idiot.

But the excitement quickly faded. "That's _it_?" Luke asked, peering into the safe again.

Inside the safe was a silver beaded bracelet. It glistened in the dark, reflecting the meager light of Hal's room. Thalia reached in and pulled it out, holding it up for everyone to see. After a moment, she slipped it on her left wrist. She waited a few seconds. Flailed her arm around. Nothing happened.

"It should _do _something," she whined. She couldn't believe they had gone through all the trouble of running halfway across the state and through a creepy, old mansion filled with hideous reptilian monsters, and risked their lives to open an old safe, just to find a stupid bracelet. Her anger started to seep back. "If Zeus sent me here - "

Hal clapped his hands all of a sudden. Thalia noticed how his eyes were suddenly ablaze with excitement. He waved his arms over his head but she couldn't understand what he was trying to say.

"Um….." Luke muttered, tilting his head to the side.

Hal finally stomped his feet in frustration and gestured for us to follow him back to his computer as he raced ahead.

When Thalia and Luke finally caught up with him, the computer screen was filled with words, phrases; a dyslexic demigod's nightmare. Thalia blinked and attempted to make sense of the hieroglyphics on screen.

_You're the ones! You actually got the treasure! I can't believe it! That safe has been sealed since before I was born! Apollo told me my curse would end when the owner of the treasure claimed it! If you're the owner - _

Thalia's eyes glazed over and she glanced away from the screen. Her mind felt muddled, like she had just swam through the River Lethe. "Hold it. I've never seen this bracelet. How could I be the owner? And if your curse is supposed to end now, does that mean the monsters are gone?"

_Clack, clack, clack. _

Clack, clack, clack.

Thalia gulped. That did not sound good.

"Do you have your voice back?" Luke asked Hal. The old man opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He shrugged, his shoulders slumping.

"Maybe Apollo meant we're going to rescue you," Thalia said.

Hal sat quietly at his computer desk. _Or maybe I die today, _he typed.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Cheerful," he said. "I thought _you _could tell the future. You don't know what will happen?"

Hal continued to type. _I can't look. It's too dangerous. You can see what happened to me last time I tried to use my powers. _

Luke crossed his arms over his chest. "Sure," he grumbled. "Don't take the risk. You might mess up this nice life you've got here."

Hal's shoulders slumped even more, making him look smaller than he actually was. He shook slowly, his wispy, white curls shuddering on his realized he was crying silently. It broke her heart.

Sure, what Luke shot at him was mean, but Hal's cowardice was getting on her nerves too. Hal _had _to do something. He had to fight for his life. He couldn't allow the gods to ruin his existence any further. She put her hand on his back consolingly.

"It's okay Hal," she said softly, throwing a glare at Luke. "We're not giving up. This bracelet must be the answer. It's got to have a special power."

Hal took a shuddering breath. _It's silver, _he continued to type. _Even if it turns into a weapon, the monsters can't be hurt by any metal. _

_Right,_ Thalia thought. Hope started to melt in her. She turned to Luke for help.

He offered a meager grin and scanned the room, a look of concentration in his face. After a few seconds, he turned back to them, determination set in his blue eyes. "We'll have to find a different kind of weapon," he announced. "Hal, let me borrow your computer."

Hal stepped away from his seat and Luke took it immediately. He set his fingers on the keyboard tentatively; Thalia knew he hadn't much experience with technology, most demigods tried to stay away from it after all. Computers, cellphones, and the like just attracted monsters. Thalia watched as her friend exhaled, muttering something incoherent under his breath.

"What, Luke?" she asked him.

Luke shook his head, waving her aside. "Nothing," he murmured. Thalia brushed it aside too, but she thought she had heard Luke mutter something about being Hermes' son. Thalia didn't like the vibes she was getting off Luke...he had seemed meaner than usual today. Was it because of the way he saw Apollo had treated his own son? Had that triggered the ill feelings he had been harboring for his own dad? Whatever the issue was, Thalia hoped Luke could keep it together until they finished their mission here. The last thing they needed was a revenge-fueled Son of Hermes with an evil anti-gods plan.

Thalia sighed and walked away from the computer. Maybe she could try to figure out what the silver bracelet was capable of while Luke figured out an escape plan. She raised her arm slowly, leveling it to her face so that she could study the bracelet better. It was indeed, made of shiny silver beads that glistened despite the poor light of Hal's room. Thalia bit her lip. Surely, Zeus had given this to her not just for show. She twisted it around her wrist, hoping to activate some kind of switch that would transform the jewelry into a killing machine. Nothing happened. She tapped it tentatively with two fingers. Nothing. She shook her wrist, flailing her hands in the air. Still, nothing. She removed it, and slipped it back on, shouted at it, tried to summon its powers by chanting, "Zeus!" over and over again; but still, nothing happened.

"This is stupid!" she screamed in frustration and sank down to the carpeted floors. Luke glanced at her briefly, offering a weak smile, but it did little to lift Thalia's spirits. This was it. They were done for. They were going to die by the hands of the evil leucrotae and Hal's worn out hope.

Hal, meanwhile, had begun to type on his computer again. _Running out of time, I'll try to read the future. _

Thalia frowned as she read the text. "I thought you said that was too dangerous."

_It doesn't matter, _Hal went on, his fingers flying across the keyboard. _Luke is right. I'm a cowardly old man, but Apollo can't punish me any worse than he already has. Perhaps I'll see something that will help you. Thalia, give me your hands._

He spun on her suddenly, and Thalia stepped back instinctively. She was scared, without a doubt. Did she really want to know what the future had in store for her? What if she found out that she was really going to die tonight? Wouldn't that just make her want to give up trying to escape?

_Thalia, have faith, _she suddenly heard Amaltheia's ethereal voice in her head. Thalia took a shaky breath and placed her hands atop Halcyon's. His palms were rough and calloused against hers. Instantly, Thalia felt a rush of energy between them, like they were sharing the same power source. Her fingers tingled, the energy travelling up and down her arms. It felt oddly comfortable, despite the prickling. Then just as suddenly as it began, Hal drew back, wincing, and the feeling dissipated.

Halcyon turned to his computer and began to type furiously. _You are destined to survive today, _he typed. His eyebrows, however, were furrowed, creating more lines on his face.

"That's - that's good, right?" Thalia said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Why do you look so sad?"

Hal was silent for a few suspenseful seconds. Then he proceeded to type again, slower this time. _Someday soon, you will sacrifice yourself to save your friends. I see things that are...hard to describe. Years of solitude. You will stand tall and still, alive but sleeping. You will change once, and then change again. Your path will be sad and lonely. But someday you will find your family again. _

Thalia's mouth suddenly tasted like she had swallowed a bitter gourd. Her fists clenched, but she tried to keep her temper in check. Her family? Her _family? _And what did he mean by _sacrifice_ and _years of solitude _ and _sleeping? _She didn't feel any more enlightened than she was a few seconds ago. If anything else, she felt even more _confused_. She grunted, slamming her palm against one of the shelves. "That doesn't make any _sense. _I'll sacrifice myself, but I'll live. Changing, sleeping? You call that a future? I - I don't even _have _a family. Just my mom, and there's no way I'm going back to her." Thalia's voice shook, and she cursed herself silently for getting so emotional over a fortune-teller's vision.

Hal looked away sadly. _I'm sorry. I don't control what I see. But I didn't mean your mother. _

Thalia's knees felt weak. _Jason? _she thought. Was Halcyon talking about her brother? She hadn't even thought about him in a few years. She had tried to forget about him the night she had run away, and so far, it had worked. She always thought that forgetting him would make the pain more bearable, and it had. She hadn't even mentioned him to Luke.

"Thalia?" Luke broke the silence. His voice was soft, like he was approaching an injured animal. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

Thalia cleared her throat. "It's nothing. Forget it. Hal's fortune-telling skills are rusty." But to her own self, she knew she didn't sound convincing.

"Hal," Luke said. "There's got to be more. You told us that Thalia will survive. _How_? Did you see anything about the bracelet? Or the goat? We need _something_ that will help."

Hal shook his head bitterly. _I saw nothing about the bracelet. I'm sorry. I know a little about Amaltheia the goat, but I doubt it will help. The goat nursed Zeus when he was a baby. Later, Zeus slew her and used her skin to make his shield - the aegis._

"So Zeus killed his own mama goat. Typical god thing to do. Thalia, you know anything about the shield?"

Thalia nodded. It was all coming back to her now, the myths and the stories. "Athena put the head of Medusa on the front of it and had the whole thing covered in Celestial bronze. She and Zeus took turns using it in battle. It would frighten away their enemies."

Luke still looked skeptical. Thalia, meanwhile, got a bad feeling in her gut. Amaltheia had re-formed (as all mythological creatures do) and had come back to the mortal world. But why had she chosen to help Thalia and Luke? If Thalia were a magical-goat-skinned-alive-by-Zeus, she was pretty sure she wouldn't be enthusiastic to mentor his children. Had Amaltheia actually led them to their deaths?

Hal walked towards Luke and set his wrinkly hands out to him. Luke's face turned ashen grey as he stared at Hal, like he already knew he didn't have a good future for Hal to read.

"Don't, Luke," Thalia warned him. "The gods were right. Hal's prophecies don't help anybody."

But Luke didn't seem to hear her. He reached out to rest his hands on Hal's. _One thousand on, one thousand two, one thousand three…_

Hal took a step back, his eyes flying open.

"Okay," Luke began, his face still grey. "I'm guessing you didn't see anything good."

Hal turned to his computer but didn't type until a few seconds later. _Fire. I saw fire._

"Fire?" Thalia asked. She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "You mean today? Is that going to help us?"

Hal's face was scrunched up like he might start crying again. He nodded slowly.

"There's more," Luke insisted. "What scared you so badly?"

Hal kept his stare on the computer screen. _Hard to be sure. Luke, I also saw a sacrifice in your future. A choice. But also a betrayal. _

"A betrayal," Thalia repeated. "You mean someone betrays Luke? Because Luke would never betray anyone."

Hal went on, _His path is hard to see. But if he survives today, he will betray - _

Thalia didn't allow him to continue. She grabbed the keyboard from his fingers and flipped it over in disgust. "Enough! You lure demigods here, then you take away their hope with your horrible predictions? No wonder the others gave up - just like you gave up. You're pathetic!"

The old man's green eyes burned with a sudden ferocity, Thalia could actually see resemblance between him and a mad scientist. He rose to his feet, pushing the chair back behind him none too gently. Thalia balled her fists and raised her chin. Fine, if the old, frail man wanted to fight, she was more than ready to fight him. He was stupid, pathetic, lame, for luring demigods into his trap and not even having the slightest sensitivity or bravery to help them escape.

"Go ahead," Thalia taunted. "Take a swing, old man. You have any fire left?"

Luke stepped in-between them before anything else could happen. "Stop it!" he yelled. Hal stepped back, his expression softening. "Fire," Luke prompted him. "You mentioned fire."

Halcyon nodded, but followed it with a shrug. Thalia grimaced. She was _so _close to clubbing this stupid man in the head with her stupid silver bracelet. But she glanced at Luke, whose eyes were distant...that meant only one thing.

"What is it?" Thalia asked him. "I know that look. You're on to something."

"Let me see the keyboard," Luke said and made his way back to the computer, setting the keyboard on its rightful spot. He typed something on the Internet Browser and immediately, an article popped up onscreen. Thalia tried to peer over his shoulder and caught the words "GREEK FIRE."

"Luke, that would be perfect! But I thought that stuff was just a legend," she said.

"I don't know," Luke admitted. "If it's real, how do we make it? There's no recipe here."

Hal knocked on the wooden desk, calling their attention back to him. His face was suddenly bright with excitement. He pointed towards the bookshelves.

"Ancient history books," Thalia said, a smile creeping on her face. "Hal's right. A lot of those are really old. They probably have information that wouldn't be on the Internet."

It took them a couple of precious minutes, but Luke finally came across a book that contained the recipe for Greek ran around the room gathering the stuff they needed, surprised to find that they already had all the ingredients within their reach: a bottle of nectar, pitch from old torches, alcohol from Hal's first-aid kit…well, everything except for...

"A catalyst," Luke read. He looked up from the book and locked eyes with Thalia. "We need lightning."

Thalia's skin immediately crawled. "Luke, I can't. Last time - "

Hal held both hands up, his eyes wide and his mouth a big "O?" _YOu can summon lightning?_ he typed on his computer.

"Sometimes," Thalia said softly. "It's a Zeus thing. But I can't do it indoors. And even if we were outside, I'd have trouble controlling the strik. Last time, I almost killed Luke."

Luke grinned at her to reassure her that he was still alive as of the moment, but it did little to feed Thalia's courage. Her insides still squirmed as the image of a charred Luke on Christmas Eve came flooding back to her…..aghh...it was a long story she would rather not remember.

"It'll be fine," Luke told her gently. "I'll prepare the mixture. When it's ready, there's an outlet under the computer. You can call down a lightning strike on the house and blast it through the electrical wiring."

Thalia gulped. "And se the house on fire."

Hal typed, _You'll do that anyway if you succeed. You _do _understand how dangerous Greek fire is?_

Luke swallowed noticebaly, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "Yeah. It's magical fire. Whatever it touches, it burns. You can't put it out with water, or a fire extinguisher, or anything else. But if we can make enough for some kind of bomb and throw it at the leucroate - "

"They'll burn," Thalia finished for him. She glanced at Hal hopefully. "Please tell me the monsters aren't immune to fire."

Hal pursed his lips and began to type. _I don't think so. But Greek fire will turn this room into an inferno. It will spread through the entire house in a matter of seconds. _

Thalia's eyes travelled unwillingly to the empty enclosure. Hal's clock read 6:05. They had a good hour or so before sunset. If they could pull of this stunt - create Greek fire and toss it at the monsters while they snuck in behind them to escape - they could possibly escape with their lives.

Luke smiled at Thalia from across the room, and suddenly, Thalia knew they _had _to do this. They had fought a bunch of monsters before, _together_, and they had made it out alive. This was just another battle for them. Thalia and Luke, Luke and Thalia. They were a team, and they were going to make it out of this alive. "Let's make Greek fire," Luke announced, newfound spirit sprinkled in his voice. "Then we'll figure out the rest."

Everything after that was a blur to Thalia. They had assisted Luke as he poured the ingredients in a giant bowl atop Hal's kitchen stovetop. They worked mostly in silence, running around to collect ingredients, while Luke wiped the sweat that beaded on his forehead as he stirred what could possibly be the worst kitchen disaster in demigod history.

Thalia could tell that Luke was distracted by what Hal had predicted in his future, and he wouldn't be? She couldn't even imagine Luke betraying anyone. Luke was a good guy, he was never selfish and she knew he'd never be! Unless, he found himself in a situation like Hal's. Thalia glanced at the old man, who was silently helping Luke pour a foul-smelling liquid into the pot. He was smiling, despite the fact that his stringy, white hair was plastered to his face, and he had dirt and grime all over his cheeks. Environment had changed Hal into what he was today. Thalia bet he hadn't looked that...old, or evil when he was a young demigod. But Apollo's punishment had changed him, not just physically, but emotionally too.

Thalia bit her lip nervously. Was it possible that Luke would find himself in a similar situation one day, and his entire personality would change? Because seriously, that was the only reason she could think of for Luke to suddenly find justice in _betrayal._ She was confident that Luke just _wasn't the bad guy. _

"There," Luke announced later. He held up a sealed glass jar of slimy, gooey, black liquid. "Can you zap it? THe glass should keep it from exploding until we break the jar."

Thalia wanted to throw up, part from disgust, and part from nervousness at the big task at hand. "I'll try. I'll have to expose some wiring in the wall. And to summon the lightning, that'll take a few minutes of concentration. You guys should porbably step back, in case...you know, I explode or something." She grabbed a screwdriver from Hal's kitchen drawer and crawled under the computer desk.

_Concentrate, Thalia, concentrate! _she told herself. She could vaguely hear Luke and Hal conversing in the background, but she shut them out, closing her eyes. She tried to reach out and feel her connection with the ions and electrons in the atmosphere. She was good at this before; she had even summoned lightning on the day she had bumped into Luke outside the dragon cave at Charleston. That was how they had defeated the dragon, after all. But ever since their "accident" last Christmas Eve…

_Concentrate! _she berated herself. She felt the familiar tug in her gut, ignoring the drips of sweat that trailed down her forehead. "Zeus, now would be a really good time to help me," she prayed.

Then all of a sudden, _ZZZZzZZAAAPPPP! _Thunder rolled across the sky, shaking Hal's mansion. Thalia's fingers prickled from the remnants of electricity, but she grinned widely. She had done it!

She coughed, waving the smoke from her face as she crawled out from under the computer table and stood up. "Someone order a magic bomb?" she asked, grinning proudly.

Just then, the room shuddered again. "Oh no," she heard Luke mutter. She turned just in time to see the bars of the iron cage begin to rise.

_7:03, _Hal's clock read.

The time had come.

* * *

_**A/N: **_**Phew, that was a long chapter! I believe that was the longest chapter I have ever uploaded on this website...does that demand a celebration or? haha :) I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! Thank you again to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed! You guys really keep me going, I love you all! Hope you stick around for the next chapter!**

**Also, I didn't receive much feedback for that suggestion I posed in my last A/N! So guys, what's the verdict? Should I write a Performing Arts AU of the Seven from HOO? :D Tell me in your reviews or PM me! **


	7. Deal

_**A/N: **_**Hello fellow demigods! I apologize for the delay in updating! As I have mentioned in the author's notes of my other story, I had a pretty rough month. Thankfully, things have sorted themselves out and I bring you, Chapter 7 of Hero!**

**This is the last chapter that will cover the events of **_**The Diary of Luke Castellan **_**from **_**The Demigod Diaries. **_**Hope you guys enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**If I owned The Demigod Diaries/PJO/HOO series, I swearrrr, this thing would be published.**

* * *

A few years ago, Thalia had played a game of hide and seek with her classmates from school. She remembered running down the hallways of their classrooms, only to find every single possible hiding place taken. She remembered the how, when the "it" walked down the hallway, his footsteps echoed against the floors. Thalia remembered how she had felt her throat tighten with fear. She had not found a hiding spot yet, and the "it" was already close to tagging her. She was cornered.

And that was the exact same emotion she felt at that moment, when the iron bars began to rise and the leucrota started to hiss with eager anticipation. It was a game of tag; the leucrota were the "it", and the demigods had to run for their lives.

"Thalia," Luke interrupted her thoughts. "Give Hal the Greek fire."

Thalia hesitated. She couldn't quite comprehend what Luke wanted her to do. Weren't they all going to do this together? Didn't they plan to escape as a team? "But – "

"He has to," Luke stated, his voice grave. "He's going to help us escape."

It took a few moments for Thalia to understand, and a few more seconds for the plan to sink in. Hal was going to sacrifice himself. Thalia suddenly felt light-headed. "Luke, no."

Sure, Thalia had screamed her head off at the old man just a few hours ago, berating him for his passiveness. But Hal had also helped them. He had given her Zeus' gift, he had assisted them in cooking up the Greek Fire, and he had proven himself a...friend. Thalia and Luke had rarely come across a friendly stranger during their travels.

But the bars had almost risen up to the ceiling and the trapdors were opening slowly. A leucrotae stuck its hoof into the crack between the trapdoor and the floor, and Thalia felt goosebumps rise all over her arm. The leucrotae gave a low growl. _Clack, clack, clack__i_.

"There's no time," Luke choked. "Come on!"

Thalia thrust the jar of glowing fire out to Hal, who took it bravely. He nodded at each of us solemnly, smiling wistfully. Thalia felt her heart break. She couldn't believe Hal was so _willing_ to sacrifice his life for them.

"Let's go," Luke murmured to her, pulling her against him as they stuffed themselves into the closet.

As soon as they shut the doors of the closet, they heard the leucrotae burst into the room. The three monsters growled and _clack-_ed. There was the sound of splitting and crashing wood. Thalia resisted the urge to scream.

"In here!" Hal's voice echoed. Luke and Thalia exchanged glances. It must have been a leucrotae speaking for him, but his voice didn't waver at all. "I've got them trapped in the bathroom! Com on, you ugly mutts!"

Luke chuckled. He was probably amused at how the whole scene must've looked; the leucrotae calling themselves "ugly mutts."

There was the muffled clatter of hooves on the carpeted floor as the monsters made their way towards the bathroom, and Luke grabbed hold of Thalia's hand tightly. "Now."

They shoved the closet doors open and made a beeline for the trapdoor. The panel was already starting to close,, so Luke wedged his golf club in-between the bars. One leucrota seemed to have noticed them, and spun around, baring its unnatural teeth.

"Go, go, go!" Luke yelled, pulling Thalia along. She managed to slip inside just as the golf club began to creak and bend; it wouldn't hold up for much longer.

Hal yelled from the bathroom, "You know what this is, you Tartarus scum dogs? This is your last meal!"

"No!" Thalia screamed just as a leucrota pounced on Luke. It snapped at his face, narrowly missing by only a few centimeters. Luke raised his fist and landed a punch on the monster's snout. Thalia reached out and grabbed Luke's arm, pulling him inside the chute. The panel snapped shut, breaking the golf club in half.

"Come on!" Luke urged and they began to crawl through the metal duct. They reached another bedroom and ran haphazardly to the door.

There was only a brief warning before all hell broke loose. Hal was shouted in the distance. "For Apollo!". Then the entire mansion rumbled and shook.

Luke threw the door open, only to find out that the hallway was already on fire. Flames crawled along the walls and the door to Hal's bedroom had been blown off the hinges. Fire was rolling out in waves from his room like a tsunami.

Thalia and Luke scrambled for the stairs. They could hardly see a few feet ahead of them with the thick smoke. Thalia coughed, her lungs and eyes stinging. They stumbled down the stairs, gripping the balustrade with their soot-covered fingers.

Luke had just reached the last step when a leucrota jumped on him, pushing him to the floor. The monster seemed to have barely escaped the fire; its red fur was singed and burned black. Its ears were on fire, and one of its eyes were swollen shut.

"Luke!" Thalia yelled. Instinct kicking in, she grabbed the nearest weapon she could find - which was, surprisingly, the spear she had left on the ground floor earlier in the day - and drove it at the monster's hide. It didn't seem to do much damage, however. The leucrota only hissed at her, clearly annoyed.

The monster snapped at Luke, its jaws painfully close to his face. It had a hoof firmly planted on his chest, clearly suffocating Luke. He coughed when the leucrota leaned forward, pushing him even harder to the ground.

Thalia rammed her spear into leucrotae's side repeatedly. She was desperate! She couldn't let Luke die! They had come this far!

"Thalia!" Luke gasped. "The shield! What was it called?"

"What shield?" she exclaimed, stepping back for a split-second.

"Zeus' shield!" Luke choked. "Aegis. Thalia, the bracelet - it's got a code word!"

The gears in Thalia's head clicked. Of course! Zeus wouldn't leave her with a useless piece of pretty jewelry; he'd leave his daughter with a _weapon_!

"Aegis!" she yelled, pumping her fist in the air. The bracelet grew, transforming itself into a wide, bronze disk. It was probably about three feet long in diameter, and two-inches thick. The front was filled with intricate designs, lines and patterns that could have only been designed by the best of the Ancient Greek artists. But the best part of the shield was the face engraved into its front. It was Medusa, fiery snake-filled hair and glowing, beady eyes.

Thalia shoved the shield in the leucrotae's face and the monster immediately backed away, averting its eyes. It whimpered like a hurt animal and retreated. Luke took a deep breath and sat up. He was shaking all over, his eyes also averted from Thalia's shield.

Thalia felt adrenaline course through her veins. They had done it! They had survived Hal's mansion. She tipped her head back and mouthed a _thank you_ to the heavens.

The terrified leucrotae ran into the monster drapes and disintegrated. As it started to melt into a pile of ashes, a dozen different voices escaped from its mouth, all screaming the same word, "Help!" With a shiver, Thalia realized that the voices could have belonged to all the past victims of Hal's mansion.

Something creaked and rumbled upstairs, and from the corner of her eye, Thalia caught the flash of fire. The flames were slowly making their way closer and closer to where they were. She got a sudden sinking feeling.

"Hurry!" Thalia yelled, pulling Luke back onto his feet. They ran for the the front door, flinging it open just as the flames caught up to them, shoving them forward with incredible force. The building exploded.

Everything was a blur after from then on. Thalia remembered coming to on the rough asphalt; they had somehow found themselves sprawled on the traffic circle. As soon as her eyesight cleared, she noticed that Hal's mansion had been reduced to a tower of smoke. Golden red flames illuminated the twilight sky. Luke wasn't by her side, which gave her a heart attack at first, until she realized that Aegis was still lying by her side. Of course, Medusa had probably scared him away. She struggled to her feet, coughing and wheezing from the smoke. Her eyes stung like someone had poured salt water into them, and her throat was dry and parched. She picked up Aegis and tapped the edge of the shield. It shrank down immediately and became a silver bracelet on her wrist once more.

She found Luke behind the statue of Robert E. Lee, the place where they had met with Amaltheia. Luke was leaning against the foot of the statue, soot covering his face and arms, his T-shirt peppered with burn holes.

Silently, they stood side by side, watching the rest of Hal's mansion burn down. The brick walls came down on each other. The monster black curtains burst into flames and billowed with the wind. The roof came down with a loud crash, smoke spiraled up into the grey clouds.

Thalia didn't even notice it, but she was crying. A tear rolled down her cheek and a sob found its way up her throat.

"He sacrificed himself," she murmured. "Why did he save us?"

Luke didn't reply. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it, or maybe he didn't have an answer himself.

Why had Halcyon done that? Why had he chosen to give up his life to save them? Thalia couldn't wrap her mind around what had just happened. Hal had chosen to sacrifice his life for his friends. Was such courage even possible?

Hal was a hero.

_Someday soon, you will sacrifice yourself to save your friends. _

Thalia gulped. When the time comes, would she be able to do what Hal had just done? Would she have the courage to become a hero?

The distant echoes of sirens snapped Thalia out of her reverie.

"Come on," Luke told her, shouldering his backpack and trudging ahead. They both knew the consequences of getting caught by the police. Neither of them wanted to go back to their families or be put in juvie or foster care.

The next few hours passed in silence. They settled down in a small park and cleaned themselves up in a public restroom. Thalia changed into a clean shirt and washed her face of the grime and soot. Luke met her outside the restrooms, and together, they sat on one of the benches and waited for dark in silence.

Neither of them wanted to talk about what had just happened. Luke seemed angry about the whole event, his lips quirking up at the sides now and then. Thalia just wanted to cry. Hal didn't deserve to die. He didn't deserve to die. He was a good man.

They explored the neighborhoods and industrial areas after dark. They wandered around aimlessly. For the first time in many days, Thalia realized that they had no more glowing goat to track. They had nowhere to go.

Luke didn't even seem to be totally aware of where he was walking to. Now and then he'd bump into a pole or trip over something, his eyes glazed over and his face blank like he were a zombie from _The Walking Dead_. Thalia could sense an aura of grief coming off from him. She understood, they both didn't understand why Hal had to die at their expense.

"Let's stop here and rest for a bit," Thalia announced after Luke's seventh spill.

They were walking on a deserted road in some industrial neighborhood. In the dim light that the moon gave off, Thalia could see the words painted in red on the side of the brick wall.

RCHIMNOD NIRO WKSOR

She blinked and tried again. Stupid dyslexia.

RICHMOND IRON WORKS.

She guessed it was probably a deserted factory. The glass windows were broken and there was no light coming from inside.

Luke sat down, drawing his knees up to his chest.

"We could head to our old camp," Thalia spoke up. "On the James River. We've got plenty of supplies down there."

Luke nodded slowly, his eyes still blank. He pulled out a brown paper bag from his backpack; a ham sandwich, and shared it with Thalia. The bread tasted stale and the ham was too salty, but Thalia knew it was all they had for now.

Just as she was about to take her last bite, there was a _ping _of metal from somewhere down the alley. Luke paused, his sandwich mid-air and his mouth hanging open. "Someone's close by," he murmured, lowering his hand. "Not a regular mortal."

Thalia felt her skin crawl. After all they had endured in the past twenty-four hours, she wasn't sure she could handle another monster. "How can you be sure?"

Luke didn't reply. Instead, he got to his feet and drew Hal's dagger out of his pocket. The blade glowed faintly, Celestial bronze reflecting the dim moonlight. Thalia swallowed and followed suit, readying her spear and tapping her silver bracelet so that Aegis sprung out. Slowly, they made their way towards the wall of the warehouse.

The alleyway adjacent to it was dark and seemed to end in a dead-end. Piles of metal scrap were pushed to the end of the alleyway.

Luke trudged ahead of her and lifted his hand to point to the end of the alleyway.

Thalia gulped. "Are you sure?" she whispered.

Luke nodded. His face glowed in the moonlight; he looked confident. "Something's down there. I sense it."

On his last word, there was a metal _CLANG! _and a couple of corrugated tin sheets quivered at the top of the scrap tower. Thalia gulped. _Something, _or _someone, _was definitely hiding under the pile. Thalia gripped her spear tighter, her knuckles turning white. Luke continued ahead, keeping his arm back to warn Thalia. He reached out with his other hand to lift the corrugated metal and mouthed, _One, two, three!_

On count _three, _he lifted the metal sheet and something flew at him. In the dim moonlight, Thalia made out a small figure - a blur of flannel pajamas, messy blonde hair, and… a hammer?

Luke caught the little girl's wrist before she could swing the hammer down on his head. "Whoa!" Luke shouted. The hammer flew out of her hand and skittered across the asphalt.

The little girl fought against Luke's grip, kicking him in the shins. She looked young, but the grime and worry lines on her face made her look so much older. "No more monsters!" she screamed, her voice shrill. "Go away!"

Something in her terrified voice tore at Thalia's heart, and she stood there, frozen in her place. She reminded her of someone.

She reminded her of Jason.

"It's okay!" Luke tried to calm her. She continued to resist him, kicking at his legs.

"Thalia!" Luke hissed. "Put your shield away! You're scaring her!"

Thalia quickly tapped her bracelet and stowed her shield away. "Hey little girl," she said slowly. Her voice dropped to a calming whisper. "It's all right. We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke."

The girl blinked at them for a second, her gray eyes reflecting the moonlight. But then she kicked again, screaming, "Monsters!"

"No," Luke said, trying to imitate Thalia's soothing voice. He squeezed the little girl's hand lightly. "But we know about monsters. We fight them too."

The little girl calmed down a bit, her breaths slowing down. She stopped kicking and stared up at Thalia and Luke. Thalia noticed how startling grey the little girl's eyes were; they seemed to hold so much knowledge at such a young age.

The little girl trembled slightly. The sleeves of pajama top had slipped off her shoulders a bit, revealing her bony frame. How long had she gone without food?

But her fists were balled at her side and she had a stubborn look, her jaw stuck out. A demigod. Luke was right. She was no ordinary girl. She had the spirit of a child of the gods.

"You're like me?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Luke replied, nodding solemnly. "We're…" he hesitated, clearing his throat. "Well, it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"

The little girl's eyebrows knit and her chin trembled, but her voice held firm. "My family hates me. They don't want me. I ran away."

Luke winced. He glanced back at Thalia and a silent understanding came between them. They couldn't leave her alone. She was like them; she was _just _like them.

Thalia knelt down next to Luke and reached out to squeeze the little girl's shoulder. "What's your name, kiddo?"

The girl seemed to smile. "Annabeth."

Luke grinned widely. "Nice name. I tell you what, Annabeth. YOu're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."

Her eyes shone with excitement. "You could?"

"Oh yeah," Luke said, still grinning. He brought out Hal's dagger from his belt and held it up. Moonlight bounced off its blade, illuminating Annabeth's eager face. "How'd you like a real monster-slaying weapon? This is Celestial bronze. Works a lot better than a hammer."

Annabeth wrapped her tiny fingers around the hilt and gazed at it with awe. Thalia nudged Luke slightly, almost as if to berate him for handing a child a deadly weapon. But he didn't seem to notice. He seemed so happy to see Annabeth finally ready to take down monsters with them. Thalia couldn't blame him. She was excited to go on adventures with Annabeth, too.

"Knives are only for the bravest and quickest fighters," Luke continued. "They don't have the reach or power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever."

Annabeth grinned widely, and at that moment, Thalia almost forgot all that they had been through in the last few hours.

"I am clever!" she resonated.

Thalia laughed and pulled Annabeth into a tight bear hug.

They may have lost a friend that night, Hal; but they had gained a new companion on their quest, Annabeth.

"We'd better get going, Annabeth," Thalia announced. "We have a safe house on the James River. We'll get you some clothes and food."

Annabeth started forward with them but faltered for a second. "You're...you're not going to take me back to my family? Promise?"

Luke put a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. Pride seemed to swell in Thalia's veins at that moment; Luke looked so much like a father with his hand protectively on Annabeth. "You're part of _our _family now. And I promise I'm not going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?"

"Deal!" Annabeth replied, her voice echoing down the alleyway so that she sounded like the happiest kid on Earth.

Thalia picked up her spear and nodded at Luke. Thalia wasn't so sure, but he seemed to blush; probably glad that she approved of his actions.

"Now come on," she said. "We can't stay put for long!"

* * *

_**A/N: **_**Did I do justice to the famous meeting scene between Luke, Thalia and Annabeth? I do hope so! Please tell me what you think in your reviews!**

**Do you guys have any guesses as to what will happen next? I've got loads of surprises up my sleeve just for you guys! I really hope you guys keep reading (and reviewing)!**

**Still no reply from you guys regarding the performing arts plot bunny of mine? To write about the Seven in a performing arts school, or not? Tell me in your reviews!**


	8. Rage

_**A/N: **_**Yeah I know, I took eons to update again and I'm sorry! I've been busy with making the most of my summer before uni starts next week…eep! I'm mostly excited, yet pretty nervous as well. **

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter because I've got some scenes I'm really excited for you guys to read!**

**A quick shoutout to **_**Equinoxes **_**for being a constant reviewer! Also would like to thank my anon guests who read and reviewed **_**Hero**_**. You, my beloved and precious readers, literally keep me writing. I love each and every single one of you!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own the PJO or HOO series because if I did, THIS THING WOULD BE PUBLISHED. Yes, I'm looking at you, Uncle Rick.**

* * *

"_There's another one," Hades murmured, his low voice echoing off the walls of his chamber. He paced his room, his arms locked behind his back and his head down. "I never should have trusted my dear brother Zeus. He's a wretched, untrustworthy liar – "_

"_And he's also my father," Persephone quipped. Despite her rather dank surroundings, the goddess stood out in her sparkling gown. It seemed to be woven out of midnight and precious gems found in the Underworld. She was seated on the bed with her knees under her, and she pulled Hades down to sit next to her, massaging his shoulders. "Calm down a bit, sweetheart."_

_Hades balled his hands into fists. "You don't understand, Persephone! We made a deal! None of the Big Three were supposed to have children with mortals after the Pact. You know how much trouble demigods of the Big Three can be! They're too powerful for their own good!"_

_Persephone pursed her lips and leaned playfully against her husband. "That is true. Their scents are stronger and they attract more monsters to themselves. They're also a lot stronger."_

_Hades turned on Persephone all of a sudden, his dark eyes obsidian orbs. "And the prophecy, don't forget that." His voice had a hint of fear to it. "The next child of the Big Three to reach the age of sixteen could either save or destroy Mount Olympus. The fate of the gods rests in some demigod child's hands."_

_Persephone sighed and squeezed Hades' shoulders again. "So what do you think we should do about it?"_

_Hades let his eyes wander across the room. "There's only one logical thing to do, my love." He suddenly grew in size, towering over his wife and pushing through the ceiling of his chamber. Concrete cracked and fell away, plummeting like meteors back to the ground. Hades was now a twenty-foot tall giant, cackling devilishly, his obsidian black eyes glowering. He raised a gigantic foot, as if he were to squish a bug. "Kill her. Kill Thalia Grace." His foot was suddenly plummeting down on Thalia, who felt as small and insignificant as an ant. He was coming too quick, too fast,…_

"_Thalia!"_

"_Kill Thalia Grace…"_

"Thalia!"

"THALIA!"

Thalia jolted awake, sitting up so suddenly, her vision started to spin as soon as she opened her eyes. She groaned, flopping back down against her pillows. She was bundled up in her sleeping bag which was set just to the right side of Luke's, and the left of Annabeth's. After roughly two weeks together with the little blonde, Thalia still had to get used to waking up next to a second person. For years, it had just been her and Luke, but now, they had a little demigod to look out after. Thalia almost felt like Annabeth saw them as her parents.

Birds chirped overhead and a breeze rustled the leaves of the oak tree to which their sleeping bags were set under. The sun was almost midway up the sky; Thalia wondered what time it was and why Luke and Annabeth had allowed her to sleep in so late.

"Thalia?"

Luke was kneeling next to her sleeping bag, his eyebrows knit together in concern. Thalia pushed herself up on her elbows. She didn't understand why Luke looked so worried.

"You were having a nightmare. It took me ages to wake you up," Luke said. He reached out to take Thalia's hand gently. "You were muttering something that sounded an awful lot like, 'kill her," and I really didn't think that was a good sign."

Thalia's throat felt dry. A rush of emotions seemed to drown her thoughts. She was suddenly aware of the fact that her fingers were gripping her sheets tightly enough to whiten her knuckles, and sweat was running down the sides of her face. Her chest hurt like she had been running too quickly, and she realized that her heart was thumping wildly against her rib cage.

"Hey, say something will ya? You're scaring me," Luke told her, desperation lining his voice. His gaze held Thalia's, and Thalia couldn't help but compare how Luke's blue eyes seemed to calm her so much as opposed to the black, obsidian orbs of Hades…

"Hades," she choked out. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears as her dream came back to her in bits and pieces. "And Persephone. They were in the Underworld."

Luke raised an eyebrow, a tease of a smile on his lips. "Thalia, they're always in the Underworld."

"No, I meant that they were scheming in the Underworld. They were angry. Well, actually Hades' was pretty angry." Thalia's breaths were uneven. She dug her fingernails into her palms, trying to calm herself down. "Hades said that he discovered another child of the Big Three."

Luke opened his mouth to say something, but shook his head instead. "The Big Three as in Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon?"

Thalia nodded grimly, the weight of her knowledge suddenly bearing down on her. "Luke…in all our travels, we haven't once encountered another demigod child of the Big Three." She gulped. "What if Hades' was referring to me?"

"Did he say he'd do anything?"

_Kill her. Kill Thalia Grace._

"Well, no," Thalia lied. She knew she couldn't dare tell Luke that Hades' planned to kill her. Luke would go crazy trying to find a way to protect her. Her safety was always his priority.

Luke pressed his lips into a thin line, as if he was already mulling over possible ways to deep-fry Hades' in his own threats. "Your dream could be a sign or something. We'll just have to keep our eyes open."

Thalia nodded, trying to keep her face stoic despite her thumping heart. She was going to be okay, right? They were all going to be okay, right?

"Come on, have some breakfast," Luke told her, helping her to her feet. Thalia stretched out her muscles, enjoying how her limbs didn't protest in pain thanks to the restful days that they had. Surprisingly, they had been blessed with a three-day streak of no monsters; it had been the longest in quite some time.

"Where's Annabeth?" Thalia asked as she followed Luke to their make-shift dining area. The "dining area" was made up of three logs that formed a triangle around a pile of rocks that served as their fire source. Annabeth was comfortably seated with her back against one log, a familiar looking leather notebook propped on her lap. She raised her head when Thalia walked in, throwing a hand in the air as she waved excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

"I love how Annabeth brings such a cheerful vibe to our duo," Luke told Thalia under his breath. He was grinning back at the girl. On their second night together with Annabeth, Thalia and Luke had discovered that she was a daughter of Athena. For nights before she ran away, Annabeth was plagued by night terrors of spiders crawling into her bedroom. On the third night of the spider flood, young Annabeth couldn't take it anymore. She fled to find comfort away from home.

"_Trio,_" Thalia corrected him. It wasn't anymore just Thalia and Luke against the world; it was Thalia, Luke, and _Annabeth_.

Thalia skipped over to Annabeth who jumped up and threw her arms around the older girl's waist. Thalia lifted Annabeth up and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Good morning!" Annabeth greeted while Thalia set her back down. _Man, seven-year-olds were actually pretty heavy, _Thalia thought.

"What are you reading?"

Annabeth held the notebook up so that Thalia could see it better. The green leather that wrapped the notebook was cracked and brittle at some areas, and the familiarity of it tugged at Thalia's memory. She frowned. "Isn't that – "

"Hal's diary," Luke finished for her. He was suddenly by her side, carrying a plastic plate that held a tower of pancakes drizzled in maple syrup. He settled down next to her on the log and handed her a plastic fork. "Breakfast?"

But Thalia was suddenly hungry for more than just food at the moment. "His diary? As in the one that he told us not to touch?" She looked at Luke incredulously. "Why do you have it with you?"

Luke grinned shyly. "He sort of handed it over to me while you were working on the Greek Fire," he replied. "He said his diary would help me make my own decisions in the future, and that I could learn from his mistakes." His voice quavered at the word _future_, and Thalia knew that he was still trying to understand what Hal had meant when he had foretold Luke's future.

_His path is hard to see. But if he survives today, he will betray…_

Thalia gulped. She hoped Hal's prophecy wasn't true. Luke couldn't betray anyone, he _wouldn't_! Looking at him now, with the sunlight illuminating his hair to gold and highlighting the angles and curves of his jaw and hard-set chin, he looked like a chiseled sculpture of a Greek hero ready to face down a thousand armies single-handedly. And if there were to be anyone who would betray Luke, Thalia was sure that she'd strike the betrayer down with the force of a thousand jolts of electricity from Olympus. _No one _was allowed to betray Luke, especially with Thalia on watch.

"I could read it aloud!" Annabeth volunteered. Thalia and Luke exchanged glances. Being demigods, dyslexia was a common hindrance to reading, but Annabeth seemed confident enough to take on the challenge. She seemed like a smart little girl. She turned back to the first page and cleared her throat.

_July 25, 1941_

_I met Dana at the park again today, after her art classes at the university. She seems to be having the time of her life there, and I'm happy that she decided to study Fine Arts despite her parents telling her to take over the family business. She's wonderful, and I don't know if she sees herself the way I see her; she is art. She's not pretty at a first glance, but she's beautiful at a second, a third, a fourth glance. She becomes more beautiful the longer you look at her, just like how some pieces of art require you to stare at the subject before you can appreciate it._

Luke gagged from beside Thalia. "Is it just me, or is Hal incredibly cheesy?"

"Ssssh!" Annabeth scolded, and went back to reading.

_July 30, 1941_

_I woke up from the most unusual of dreams this morning. I made sure to jot down my thoughts and memories on the dream as soon as I woke up, so here I am now, still dressed in my pajamas as I write this. _

_I dreamt of Dana – _

"I honestly haven't read through Hal's stuff," Luke interrupted. Thalia glanced over at him and noted how his face had gone all scrunched up together in disgust. "Because if this is just going to be some kind of love story – "

"It's about the girl he tried to protect, remember?" Thalia scolded. "Save your reactions for later because I actually want to hear how he got punished by Apollo, okay?"

Luke shrank down in his seat and Annabeth continued to read.

_I dreamt of Dana. She was crossing the street to head to her morning art classes when out of nowhere, a speeding automobile rounded the corner and hit her. I woke up right after that, covered in cold sweat, and with my heartbeat echoing loudly in my eardrums._

Thalia gulped. The post-nightmare emotions were still fresh in her memory.

_I'm not sure what to do next. Should I inform Dana of what I have seen in my dream? She is not aware that I am a son of Apollo. She is not aware that I can foresee the future. I'm not even sure she will react well upon hearing that fact. _

_But what if that automobile hits her today? What if it hits her this morning? Then I'll have to act promptly. I'll try to catch her at that street today, before she heads into the university. _

"Didn't Hal get in trouble with the gods for divulging information about the future to a mortal?" Thalia murmured.

They all looked to Luke, whose face had gone hard-set and unreadable. Annabeth continued.

_August 2, 1941_

_So, I wasn't able to catch Dana that day, but here's the thing: she survived that day. For some strange reason, she had been late to class and that speeding automobile had not hit her. _

_Okay fine, I'll spill the beans. I came by her house early that morning and destroyed the flowers in her front yard. She must have spent a good hour or so, interrogating her neighbors to find out who did it. But I guess mortals will never be able to see through the Mist properly, and I used that to my advantage._

_Yes, I feel rather guilty about my act. I adore her with all my heart, and knowing that she is angry about what happened to her garden makes me feel unworthy of her affections. But I did it out of love. I did it to save her. _

_She may never know what I do for her, but I do what I can out of love._

Annabeth sighed dramatically as she turned the page, eliciting a roll of eyes from Luke.

"I wish I could have a boyfriend as sweet as him in the future," Annabeth cooed.

"Annabeth, you're too young for such nonsense," Luke told her sternly. Thalia slapped his arm and glared at him. Luckily, Annabeth didn't seem to have heard what Luke had said.

"Hey, there's something else written on this page!" Annabeth exclaimed. Thalia and Luke leaned over the tiny girl's shoulders to glance at the page. Indeed, there was something else besides the normal diary entry written on the page. Thalia squinted at the letters until they became clear words, and immediately wished she hadn't. What she saw chilled her down to her bones.

I must not reveal the future to mortals.

In blood-red ink, the line, "I must not reveal the future to mortals" was written over and over again on two consecutive pages. Judging from the harsh and crooked lines of the handwriting, whoever had written it seemed to either be in pain, or badly didn't want to write those sentences.

"What in Hades…" Luke gasped, running his fingers over the words. Annabeth was staring at the page with her mouth hanging open, her grey eyes as huge as saucers.

"It was a punishment," Luke muttered. He settled back down on his seat and grimaced. "Apollo must've forced him to write those words repeatedly to make sure Hal remembered to do just that; not to 'reveal the future to mortals.'"

Annabeth swallowed and tilted her head upwards to look at Thalia. "I don't get it," she said. "Hal was only trying to save the girl? Why did Apollo punish him for doing something good?"

Thalia opened her mouth to reply but Luke beat her to it. Clouds of loose dust and mud exploded into the air as Luke stomped angrily on the ground. "Because the gods are cheats. They're selfish. They want things done their way, and if their demigod children don't do it their way, they get punished in the most inhumane ways." Luke got up and kicked the adjacent log. "The gods are selfish! They leave their demigod children alone to fend for themselves!"

Thalia jumped to her feet and pulled on Luke's arm. "Hey! Don't shout like that in front of Annabeth!"

Luke was breathing hard, his blue eyes clouded with emotion. "I-I'm sorry." He swallowed and knelt down next to Annabeth. The young blonde was staring up at him the same way she had looked at the page of Hal's diary with the repeated sentences. Luke reached out with his hand to console her."Hey, kiddo, I'm sorry. I…I got carried away. You'll understand when you're a bit older."

Annabeth didn't say anything, but Thalia felt that the young demigod _already _understood what Luke had been shouting about. Of course Annabeth would understand; she had also grown up with a difficult, broken family who didn't treat her right. Thalia had learned that much from Annabeth's stories to her.

Luke had always questioned the gods. He wondered why his father Hermes had left him alone with his mentally-unstable mother. He questioned why he and Thalia were left to fend for themselves every day. But on the night they had escaped Hal's mansion, his questions suddenly ignited rage in him, and he _demanded _to know why Apollo had punished his son so _severely. _Hal had only been trying to save the young girl's life!

"I understand," Annabeth replied, her voice not louder than a tiny squeak. Thalia and Luke exchanged pitying looks. For a second, Thalia felt Luke's rage. How dare Annabeth's godly parent allow her to experience such hardships at a tender, young age!

Then all of a sudden, a low growl rolled through the foliage. Annabeth sprang to her feet. "What was _that_?" she asked slowly.

There was a blood-curling sound, unmistakably a hellhound's howl. Luke cursed under his breath. "We better pack-up quickly. It sounds like a pack of hellhounds is on their way. They still sound like they're far off, but we have at least five minutes before they catch our scent."

Thalia ran to their sleeping bags and started rolling them up. Annabeth packed away their utensils while Luke worked on collapsing their make-shift tents and other gear. Five minutes later, they had stuffed all their belongings into three backpacks, two duffel bags, and a gigantic plastic bag.

A howl pierced through the silence. Luke nodded grimly. "And _that_ is our cue to move."

* * *

_**A/N: **_**How did you all like that? Did you enjoy the first part of Hal's story? I promise you guys, there's **_**more **_**of Hal's exciting story on the way! I would really appreciate detailed constructive criticism from you guys! It would help me write better to make you guys happy. Were Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth in-character? Was my grammar okay? Any awkward sentences or phrases you want me to go over? Is my plot flowing nicely? TELL ME IN YOUR REVIEWS, PLEASE!**

**Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback regarding the plot bunny on the performing arts story! My final verdict: I'll write it! Hopefully I can get the plot fixed and finalized so I can upload it soon. Oh well, I'm not sure if that's a rather bright idea, considering the fact that I have two long-chapter stories still incomplete on my profile…**

**Hope to hear from you guys! Hope you all stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	9. Normal

_**A/N: **_**HI EVERYONE! I'm **_**still **_**alive! I survived my first semester of university, and gods of Olympus, UNI LIFE IS FUN! Tiring as Hades, but really fun!**

**Here's the next chapter of Hero! I'm sorry I took forever to update! Shoutout to **_**sifuXANA, Equinoxes, **_**and the**_** Anon Guest**_**! **

**This chapter's going to be a little more sentimental, in contrast to the previous action-packed chapters. The town of **_**Eldmont**_** is fictional, lol. It's as fictional as a **_**Paper Town **_**HAHA**

_**Disclaimer: **_**PJO/Demigod Diaries ain't mine boohoo**

* * *

The bus ride to Maryland took almost five hours and Annabeth was hungry, dizzy, and exhausted by the time they alighted from the vehicle. The first whiff that Annabeth's nose caught upon stepping down from the bus was the delicious aroma of baked pastries wafting out from the open door of a nearby bake shop. Annabeth shouldered her backpack and staggered towards the glass windows of the shop like a hypnotized zombie. Her mouth watered as her eyes wandered over the trays of glazed doughnuts, cupcakes, croissants, and Danish pastries. Her stomach rumbled uncomfortably. They had skipped lunch while they were travelling, and the last decent meal she had eaten were the pancakes Luke had made for breakfast, which weren't much, actually.

"Want some, kiddo?" Luke asked her. He set his hand on her shoulder gently, giving her a little squeeze. Annabeth found herself nodding almost automatically. "Well, we actually have some spare money this time." Luke fished around in his pockets for a few seconds before he finally came up with three dollars and a couple of cents.

His eyes twinkled as he dropped the cash into the young girl's hand and sent her almost flying into the pastry shop. Annabeth didn't waste any time to ask Luke where he had gotten the money; they seemed to always have at least _enough_. Most days were worse than others and Annabeth had to sleep with a growling stomach, but some days Luke came back to their campsite with enough food for the entire day.

Annabeth purchased a croissant and a cup of hot chocolate for herself, a bagel and coffee for Luke, and a ham sandwich and green tea for Thalia. The three demigods settled themselves into a comfortable couch by the window, because Annabeth enjoyed gazing out into the streets.

Annabeth had always wanted to go on a camping trip, but her dad and her stepmom had never allowed her, even when the school had commissioned a father-daughter camping trip when Annabeth was in the first grade. But Annabeth had finally gotten her wish over the past few days that she had spent with Thalia and Luke. From her older demigod friends, she had learned how to light a fire, how to patch up a damaged safe house, and as a bonus, Luke had even brought home some marshmallows on her second night so they could make s'mores. It was a dream come true! There were no more spiders crawling out of her imagination and into her bed every night; instead, she had the company of Thalia and Luke, demigods just like her who understood exactly what she was going through.

Annabeth sipped her hot chocolate carefully, savoring the way the warm liquid sloshed in her mouth and ran down her throat, warming her from inside out. Did her stepmother miss her? Was the house too quiet now that Annabeth had run away and no one was there to scream about spiders in the middle of the night? Did Bobby and Matthew miss her? Did her father miss her?

"What are you thinking about, kiddo?" Luke asked her, startling the young blonde from her thoughts. Annabeth realized she had been gripping her mug rather too tightly, her knuckles whitening.

"Home," she sighed after a few seconds. A worried look crossed Luke's face, but Annabeth quickly reassured him with a smile. "I don't miss it. I have a new home now."

Thalia chuckled. "Even if 'home' is a loose term for 'running around across different states in the hopes of evading monsters'?"

Annabeth nodded. And she meant it. With the warm chocolate sitting in her stomach contentedly and the company of her two newfound best friends, she was home. She was right where she needed to be.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Thalia asked, stepping over yet another pile of fallen, rotting wood. After their quick stop at the pastry shop, the trio had set out once again to find shelter for the night. It was nearly nightfall by the time they had stumbled upon a deserted store at the end of a street that looked like it had once been a quaint, little coffee shop. The door had been boarded up and the windows sealed, but after much violent kicking down of the front door, Luke had finally managed to open the place up.

Annabeth instantly felt goosebumps rise on her arms as soon as they stepped in the place. It was pitch black and reeked like a musty, old cabinet. Luke had to light a temporary torch just to provide a source of light until Thalia finally found the light switch. Thankfully, it was still functional. A few seconds passed before the yellow-orange light bulbs buzzed to life. Annabeth blinked, taking in her surroundings. The light bulbs were strung across the ceiling in a rather artistic fashion, suggesting that this place had once a beautiful place for coffee and snacks. A couch was pushed to the far left side of the room, while a stack of love chairs and coffee tables were stowed towards the back. Cobwebs were gathering inside a collection of glass display boxes. An old-fashioned cash register sat on a dusty counter top.

"I mean, this place looks nice and all, but is it safe?" Thalia asked again. She rubbed her arms and glanced back at the door Luke had closed behind him.

"I don't think the hellhounds will be on our trail for a few more weeks," Luke said slowly. He shrugged. "Or a few more months, if we're lucky this time." He trudged ahead, stepping over broken plates and mugs.

"No," Thalia muttered, shaking her head. "I don't mean the monsters, you dummy. The _police_."

At the mention of the police, Annabeth felt her skin prickle. Sometimes she couldn't decide which of the two could possibly cause her more harm; the police, or the monsters? Monsters were dangerous, no doubt. Hellhounds could shred her to smitherins in a few seconds, dragons could disintegrate her into a pile of demigod ashes, and hydras could easily melt her into a puddle of demigod goo. But the police could bring her to a juvenile detention center, and eventually reunite her with her family. She did _not_ miss her family. She did not miss the spiders, the nightmares, the anxiety –

"Hey, you look tired," Luke jarred her back into reality. Annabeth took a sharp breath and closed her eyes. It was the second time Luke had grounded her back after her thoughts had carried her away in a tsunami of fears. She needed to stop thinking too much.

"I'm fine," she protested, shaking his concern off. She found a broom by the couch and picked it up firmly, showing him she was fine. "I'll sweep up."

"I'll set up the sleeping bags once you're done," Thalia quipped.

Luke grinned, setting his hands on his hips. "Then I guess that leaves me to do carpentry on the windows and doors, to make sure the monsters – or the police," he winked at Thalia. "Won't find us here. This place, after we fix it up, will be our safe house. For now."

And so they got to work. An hour later, the deserted coffee shop was starting to look a bit more decent as a living space. Annabeth huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. Thalia had set up the couch near the center of the room. Three sleeping bags were arranged near the far end of the room, where it was darker and cooler. The cobwebs had been dusted off the counter top and Luke had set up their current supplies: bottles of nectar and a couple Tupperwares of ambrosia squares that they had taken away from Hal's supply, first aid kits, sandwiches from the pastry store, and bottles of water and candy for energy.

Luke wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to face the girls. He had managed to craft a lock on the front door. "This should do the trick," he said proudly.

"Against a pack of hellhounds?" Thalia asked skeptically.

Luke frowned. "Well, against the police but – "

Thalia snickered playfully. "I'm kidding, Son of Hermes. You looked pooped. I think it's time to call it a night."

Luke still seemed doubtful. "I can add some reinforcements – "

"Not tonight," Thalia said firmly, though she was smiling comfortingly at him. "It's time to rest. We all need it."

Luke walked towards the bathroom towards the back to change out of his dirty clothes, and Annabeth settled into her sleeping bag, pulling the edges up and over herself. And as she drifted off to sleep, she smiled to herself, thankful for her new family and her new home, even if it was only temporary.

Maybe they were demigods, and maybe they'd have to spend the rest of their lives on the run from monsters and policemen and everything and everyone else evil, but at least they had each other. They'd have each others' backs and the world would keep gifting them with food to eat every now and then, and shelter every so often. The world was cruel, but it wasn't always so.

Maybe, just maybe, they could have a shot at a normal life.

* * *

_**A/N: **_**Rather short chapter, but I felt like our characters deserved this break from the monsters! Tell me what you think of this chapter in your reviews! I really, truly enjoy hearing from you guys! I hope I'll get to update again soon!**

**If you guys have any suggestions for a PJO/HOO Christmas fic, send me a PM and I'll try my best to write it for you!**


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